Digong confident ICC has ‘no case’ against him

Former President Rodrigo Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – Detained former President Rodrigo Duterte is confident that he has “no case” to answer for before the International Criminal Court (ICC) according to Vice President Sara Duterte.

Vice President Sara Duterte told supporters that the former president is now in better shape after appearing fatigued during the Pre-trial Chamber hearing on March 17.

“He’s very confident about the legal arguments. He’s very confident about that. What they did was wrong. There is no case to begin with,” the vice president told reporters.

The former president is detained at the ICC Detention Centre at The Hague, Netherlands facing charges for crimes against humanity. Duterte is now awaiting the September 23 confirmation of charges where he is given an opportunity to contest the charges against him.

Duterte’s arrest sparked many debates arguing about its lawfulness or the lack of it. On March 11, the former leader was intercepted by authorities in the plane upon his arrival from Hong Kong, brought to the Villamor Air Base and flown to The Hague all in less than 24 hours.

Defending the government, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said Duterte’s arrest did not follow the Rome Statute but was based on Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against Humanitarian Law giving the executive the choice of surrender over extradition.

This was opposed by an international law expert Atty. Alexis Media during the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing where he explained that a lawful court order is required when expelling a person from his country as lack of it would be tantamount to violation of the liberty to abode.

“That is guaranteed by Section 6 of the Bill of Rights. The liberty of abode cannot be impaired without a lawful order of the court. That is the text of the constitution. Now, this constitutional protection is a barrier for any government action that would simply force, compel, an individual, to change his residence,” Medina said.

“My view that the arrest and the detention and explusion of the former president may have infringed several constitutional guarantees in favor of the former president,” Medina said.

Meanwhile, ICC-accredited lawyer Joel Butuyan had earlier said Duterte is in fact the biggest witness against himself for repeatedly making pronouncements about killings.

“The biggest, the strongest, the most important witness of the prosecution is the accused, Mr. Duterte himself,” Butuyan said.

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