Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla
MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla defended that the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) was the basis of the Philippine government to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte as per the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On the heavily-anticipated inquiry of the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations on Thursday (March 20), no less than Sen. Imee Marcos, sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had members of her brother’s cabinet push back as she grilled them on what really happened during the controversial arrest of the former president, even pinning them to admit if the government had already changed its position on the ICC.
The appointees of the Marcos cabinet found themselves on the defensive before hard-hitting Duterte allies in the Senate.
Amid questions of jurisdiction, Remulla, who also found himself in conflicting positions with past pronouncements, reasoned that Duterte’s arrest was due to his clear violation of the IHL.
“As non-member of the ICC, and as a state, the ICC has no jurisdiction over us as a country, but over the individuals who may have committed crimes against international humanitarian law, that is a universal value being held by the whole world today, that people cannot cross borders, and hide behind boundaries so that they can hide behind the law,” Remulla said.
“We surrendered an individual to the ICC. We did not surrender as a country,” he said
Apart from the justice secretary, other cabinet members in attendance were Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, National Security Council Adviser Eduardo Ano and everyone who participated in the serving of the warrant on March 11.
Imee further questioned how the ICC could still exercise jurisdiction over Filipinos despite the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019. Ill convincing answers prompted the senator to elicit admission from cabinet members if any coordination was made with the ICC despite brother’s consistent pronouncement that the government won’t allow foreign intervention into domestic judicial affairs.
Remulla maintained that the government’s relationship with the ICC remains at arms length should there be any communication but cleared that the government has never spoken to them.
Still unconvinced, Imee showed clips of her brother’s pronouncements since he was a presidential candidate up until late 2024 which showed his change in tone from shunning any communication from the international tribunal to not allowing their investigation only if they do something illegal.
To this, Remulla admitted that indeed, “our minds can change” but said he cannot speak for the president.
Remulla clarifies ICC jurisdiction, Imee not convinced
Remulla also sought to clarify the jurisdiction of the ICC in every country seeking to justify the seizure of the international tribunal of the former president.
“Jurisdiction of the ICC is throughout the world. We belong to a community of nations that is tied together by a judicial system called the International Humanitarian Law.”
Imee asked Remulla to further clarify what he meant by the ICC jurisdiction on the Philippines being different from it being a member of the international tribunal.
“The ICC tries people for individual crimes, not states. The Philippines, as a state cannot be called upon by the ICC to do something for them. But when the ICC is running after individuals who are Filipino citizens then that obligation becomes another kind of obligation,” Remulla said.
This prompted the senator to ask Remulla if the Senate’s ratification of the ICC withdrawal is now of no weight.
“Regardless, you will fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC?” Imee asked.
“When individuals are being asked by the ICC to explain, it is another matter as a state is different from an individual,” Remulla answered.
This did not convince the senator.
“I’m perplexed, the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] made it very clear that as we withdrew, we are no longer [a] state party to the treaty and now you’re saying that we can nevertheless fall under the ICC under the generic rubric of the International Humanitarian Law,” she said.
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