MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 13 March) — The issue of sovereignty could not be invoked in relation to the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his subsequent commitment to the The Hague-based International Criminal Court because the Philippines ratified the Rome Statute, a former lawmaker said.
Neri Colmenares speaks during a rally shortly after the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday (11 March 2025). Screengrab from the website of Bayan Muna Partylist
Lawyer Neri Colmenares, former Bayan Muna representative, said in a Zoom discussion Thursday that even if the Philippines has withdrawn from the ICC, the Court retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes that occurred at the time that the country was still a member State.
Colmenares was alluding to article 127 of the Statute which says that a State’s withdrawal “shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.”
Duterte has always maintained that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over alleged crimes in the Philippines after its withdrawal from the tribunal.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC on 17 March 2018. The withdrawal took effect on 17 March 2019. The country had been a State party to the Rome Statute since 1 November 2011.
Due process
Colmenares said due process was observed in implementing the arrest of Duterte with the presentation of the warrant, reading of the Miranda rights, and the presence of a lawyer.
At the time of his arrest and during the flight to the Netherlands on Tuesday, Duterte was accompanied by Salvador Medialdea, a lawyer who served as his executive secretary.
“Duterte is also a lawyer,” Colmenares said.
The former congressman explained that the Supreme Court did not grant the petition for a temporary restraining order because the warrant was legitimate, adding local courts cannot question the decisions of the ICC.
“Besides, wala nang i-restrain, nakalipad na (there was nothing to restrain anymore, they had already flown),” he said.
‘Rejoin the ICC’
In the same Zoom discussion, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan president Renato Reyes Jr. said the whole thing should not be seen as just a Marcos versus Duterte issue.
“This is a justice and human rights issue. We are against the tyranny of Duterte and the continuing violations under [President Ferdinand Jr.] Marcos.
“Marcos is continuing the policies of Duterte. We are angry about what Duterte has done, but we must make it clear that his policies are being continued by Marcos,” Reyes said.
He urged the administration to rejoin the ICC and dismantle the “terror apparatus” built by Duterte like the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, the body accused by progressive groups of several cases of red-tagging, the practice of labeling individuals and organizations of involvement in the communist underground.
Reyes said the arrest of Duterte will loom large in the campaign for the May elections.
He said the Duterte camp will try to win sympathy votes by depicting themselves as victims.
“But the real victims are the Filipino people,” adding the voters should be made aware that there is an alternative to the Marcoses and Dutertes.
Lawyer Isagani Karlos Zarate, also a former Bayan Muna representative, said there is a need to refute the narrative that Duterte is pro-masses and that the illegal drug trade was curbed during his administration.
He said the massive entry of illegal drugs into the country continued under Duterte, citing as example the discovery of shabu worth P6.4 billion in Valenzuela City on 26 May 2017 that implicated several Customs officials.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes also accused Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law, lawyer Mans Carpio, of involvement in the shabu shipment.
Paolo Duterte responded by filing a libel case against Trillanes. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)
