Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go branded the arrest and surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a calculated move and questioned the legality and motives behind the acts.
“Let’s call a spade a spade. Gusto talaga nilang i-surrender sa ICC si Tatay Digong,” said Senator Go in a manifestation delivered during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on Thursday presided over by Senator Imee Marcos.
“Wala na pong palusot. Halatang-halata. Mabilis pa sa alas kwatro ang kilos nila,” Go said.
Thursday’s hearing was attended by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, and others.
“Madam chair, marami pong tanong ang hindi pa rin nasasagot. Kung hindi kinikilala ng gobyerno ang ICC, bakit biglang sinunod ang utos nito? Ginamit lang bang palusot ang Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization)? E wala namang Red Notice. Bakit parang palihim at minadali ang lahat?” Go said.
The senator mentioned that based on Interpol’s website, eleven Filipino nationals currently have Red Notices—but none were subjected to the kind of swift and secretive action that Duterte endured.
“Labing-isa ang may Red Notice pero wala tayong naririnig. Bakit ngayon, sa kaso ni Tatay Digong, parang biglang naging masunurin ang mga otoridad? May mga warrant d’yan na ilang taon nang hindi naipapatupad. Pero ito, katorse oras lang, tapos na,” Go said.
Go also expressed concern on what seemed to be the “selective implementation” of international warrants and the apparent double standard applied to the former president’s case.
“Kung wala kayong kinalaman sa operasyong ito, sino ang nag-utos? Sino ang nagdesisyong isakay si Tatay Digong sa eroplano papunta sa ICC? ‘Wag n’yo kaming gawing tanga. Alam naming may nagmaniobra,” he said.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Remulla, in his statement, firmed that there was “no other option” but to comply with the ICC warrant, even if no extradition proceedings were initiated.
Remulla confirmed that he authorized the serving of the ICC’s warrant on Duterte and approved the subsequent flight to The Hague.
Remulla stated, “I will admit it that I gave the clearances to—number one, serve the warrant of arrest as I saw it, as I deem fit. And number two, to fly him to The Hague, to be surrendered under Section 17 of Republic Act 9851,” he added.
However, retired Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna warned that Duterte’s abrupt surrender without local court proceedings may constitute an “abuse of process,” potentially challengeable in the ICC itself.
The Senate hearing was the third in a series of public inquiries into the whisking of former president to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands despite the Philippines’ formal withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
