1 month ago
12
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
May 5, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Details from the Senate investigation conducted by Sen. Imee Marcos were among those that have been cited by lawyers of former president Rodrigo Duterte in challenging the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Philippine case.
Part of the 38-page defense challenge was a claim that President Marcos “has impliedly accepted, for jurisdictional reasons, that former President Duterte should not be tried at the (ICC).”
To support this, defense lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs cited Marcos’ letter to Vice President Sara Duterte, where he committed that the government would not “assist the ICC, in any way, shape or form.”
A copy of the letter, dated Dec. 15, 2023, was presented during the Senate committee on foreign relations hearing led by Senator Marcos on March 20.
At the time, Marcos assured the Vice President that he remains “steadfast in (his) resolve that the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Republic of the Philippines after the effectivity of its withdrawal therefrom is very much in question.”
“I am certain that all members of my Cabinet, including yourself, will echo my views on the matter,” read the President’s letter to the Vice President.
More than a year later, with the Marcos-Duterte alliance in shambles, the former president ended up detained in The Hague.
In explaining why he allowed law enforcement agencies to arrest and surrender Duterte to the ICC, the President cited the country’s commitment to the International Criminal Police Organization. ICC coursed the arrest warrant through the Interpol.
The Senate probe mainly focused on issues related to the former president’s arrest and surrender to the ICC. Senator Marcos recently said that charges may be filed against officials who were part of the arrest.
In a recent interview with Duterte supporters, Kaufman confirmed that the Senate probe may prove useful in their bid to release the former president.
The defense team has yet to formally bring up the matter of Duterte’s arrest and transfer in their filings.
The challenge, filed on May 1, largely relied on issues related to ICC’s jurisdiction.
They argued that the “preconditions for the exercise of jurisdiction” in the case of the Philippines were not met when the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I authorized the opening of the investigation in 2021.
“The jurisdictional framework of the Rome Statute is clear: A State must be a State Party at the time of the exercise of jurisdiction,” the defense said, referring to the treaty that established the ICC.
“The Republic of the Philippines was no longer a State Party to the Rome Statute at that critical point in time,” they added.
The ICC prosecutor initiated an examination into the situation in the Philippines in 2018. It prompted the Philippine government, then headed by the elder Duterte, to withdraw from the international tribunal.
Meanwhile the Vice President publicly expressed her gratitude to Senator Marcos during a campaign rally in Zamboanga City on Saturday night.
“Thank you to Senator Imee Marcos because she helped push for an investigation on the kidnapping of president Duterte here in our country. Thanks to her for helping us gather evidence that we can use for the case,” she said.
Duterte also thanked the senator who continued to stand by her amid the attacks against her office.
Senator Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of the rally that, with the evidence gathered and charges to be filed against those involved in the illegal arrest of the former president, she is hoping the question over ICC jurisdiction and interim release will get merits.
“It is our hope that with these hearings, we were able to get the sham facts, document testimonies and a lot of admissions from the government side,” the senator said.
“I won’t lose hope because this also happened to my father, to us. We were kidnapped and we were forced to go to Hawaii. It is important that we fight for this,” she added. — Roel Pareño
