No conspiracy vs Duterte, Cabinet officials say

NATIONAL Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday denied reports that he orchestrated the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is now facing trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity related to his deadly war on drugs.

In a Senate hearing called by Sen. Imee Marcos, he also denied that he, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had conspired to plan Duterte's arrest.

‌Año also said the situation was particularly challenging for him, as he had served for a long time under the Duterte administration before he was appointed national security adviser in the current Marcos administration.

At the same hearing, Cabinet members corroborated Año's statement, asserting that the government's decision to arrest Duterte was not strategic. Instead, it was a necessary action in compliance with the country's obligations to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) rather than a response to any request from the ICC.

Justice Secretary Remulla said while the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines following the country's withdrawal from the organization, former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and surrendered in accordance with the Philippines' obligation to Interpol.

"We surrendered an individual, not our country's sovereignty. The arrest of former president Duterte was in line with our obligation to Interpol and not a commitment to the ICC," he said.

Remulla emphasized that cooperation with Interpol was crucial because the Philippine government also expected significant support and collaboration from the global police organization. He cited Interpol's cooperation with the Philippine government in many cases, including the arrest of former Bamban and Tarlac mayor Alice Guo in Indonesia.

Remulla said the government has never engaged in discussions with the ICC regarding Duterte's case and had a policy of noncooperation with the ICC.

The secretary also insisted that he did not know ICC personnel were entering or leaving the country to conduct investigations.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said Duterte was arrested on the strength of a warrant issued by the ICC, which indicted him on crimes against humanity related to his administration's war against illegal drugs.

Marbil said he received the warrant from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) early in the morning of March 11. PCTC Executive Director Anthony Alcantara confirmed this, saying that other law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, were provided copies of the arrest warrant in addition to the PNP.

Interpol issued a "diffusion" notice to arrest Duterte and send him to The Hague, Netherlands, to face the ICC.

At the start of the hearing, Sen. Bong Go, an ally of Duterte, asked if the former president was given due process.

Go said he could not accept that the former president had surrendered to another country when he was a Filipino citizen. The Philippines, he pointed out, has its own judicial system, laws and courts.

"Madam chair, this is now a matter of principle, justice and humanity. If a Filipino is found guilty, then we should be the judge. We must protect our citizens," Go said in Filipino.

He said the hearing would be useless unless the former president is brought back to the country. Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in March 2018, after it announced an investigation into his bloody war on drugs.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who ran and lost as Duterte's vice president in 2016, said he agreed with Go's observation that Duterte was deprived of his rights as a Filipino citizen when he was surrendered to a foreign entity without due process under Philippine laws.

But Cayetano disagreed that the hearing would be useless, saying that it would clarify the confusion stemming from Duterte's arrest.

In her opening address, Sen. Marcos expressed her confusion over the ICC's jurisdiction as it related to Duterte's March 11 arrest.

The ICC is responsible for investigating and prosecuting individuals accused of serious crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Marcos questioned how the ICC could still exercise jurisdiction over the Philippines, given that the country had withdrawn from the Rome Statute on March 17, 2018.

"I am perplexed. The Department of Foreign Affairs made it clear that as we withdrew [from the ICC], we are no longer a state party to the treaty. And you [are] now saying that we can fall under the ICC under the general rubric of international humanitarian law? So, it doesn't matter whether you sign or do not sign a [treaty] or ratify or do not ratify?" Marcos asked Remulla.

Vice President Sara Duterte participated in the Senate inquiry through a telephone call from The Hague, Netherlands, and reiterated that the arrest of her father by the Philippine National Police was illegal.

"On March 11, my father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was forcibly taken by the PNP upon his arrival at the Manila International Airport. He was then brought to Villamor Air Base and later flown to The Hague, where he was delivered to the International Criminal Court," the vice president said.

She asserted that the PNP's actions constituted an illegal arrest, emphasizing that no arrest warrant from any Philippine court was presented. The ICC issued the only warrant shown.

The vice president also questioned the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on why it allowed the PNP to arrest the former president when the security details assigned to him were from the Presidential Security Command, part of the AFP.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. clarified that the PNP has the authority under the law to request assistance from the AFP during times of necessity while fulfilling a lawful mission and nothing more.