[Rappler’s Best] Waiting for Duterte

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'Duterte may have timed his Hong Kong trip to a leaked information that the International Criminal Court was about to issue an arrest warrant against him'

Unless you completely tuned out over the weekend, you must know that former president Rodrigo Duterte flew to Hong Kong on Friday, March 7, ostensibly to attend a thanksgiving event with Filipinos in the Chinese city.

Chay Hofileña wrote that Duterte may have timed his travel to a leaked information that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was about to issue an arrest warrant against him.

It appears the warrant was issued on Saturday, March 8. Palace Communications Secretary Jay Ruiz said “we’ve heard” of the same report. Read all about the ICC case here.

There’s no obstacle to a Duterte arrest happening in the Philippines, because as early as July last year, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla already said that the government will not block the International Police (Interpol) from arresting alleged ICC suspects here. And while Duterte dared the ICC in November last year to come and investigate him and promised to oblige, he changed gears and insisted that the court had no jurisdiction over him. (Duterte ordered Manila’s withdrawal from the ICC in 2018.)

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was more emphatic in January, saying the government will “respond favorably” if the ICC sought Interpol’s help for the execution of warrants in relation to the charges of crime against humanity leveled against Duterte and his cohorts, including Senator Bato dela Rosa.

But in China? That’s a whole complication altogether. 

Duterte’s coterie in Hong Kong includes reelectionist senator Bong Go, former first lady Honeylet Avanceña, retired generals, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, and the impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, who dropped hints about a 2028 presidential run in the Hong Kong event.

In other news: Air Force 1st Lieutenant April John “AJ” Dadulla had completed a pre-nuptial photo and video shoot with his fiancée, 1st Lieutenant Alyssa Coleen Columbino, in Zambales a few weeks ago. They were to wed on Saturday, March 15. 

But past midnight of Tuesday, March 4, Dadulla piloted a Korean-made jet fighter that crashed in the mountain ranges of Bukidnon. He died along with Major Jude Salang-Oy. The two fallen pilots were given the highest aviation award on Saturday, March 8.

Prior to the crash, the Philippine Air Force had a dozen FA-50 fighters, and the history of their purchase is as textured and drawn out as any serious relationship.

• It was in 2013 when the administration of then-president Benigno Aquino III finally approved the budget for the purchase of FA-50 fighter jets. This was to end a long drought that had turned the air force into an “all air, no force” joke, since its last fighter jet was retired in 2005. 
• Negotiations for the purchase faced obstacles, but the P18.9-billion contract between the Philippine and South Korean governments was eventually signed in 2014. 
• The first two jets arrived in Clark air base in Pampanga in November 2015.
• All the FA-50s are here but are now grounded after the Bukidnon crash.

The jets can carry up to 4.5 tons of weapons, including precision-guided bombers and air-to-surface missiles, and are equipped with a night vision imaging system. They were deployed at the height of the Marawi siege in 2017 (though the fleet was also temporarily grounded after a mishap), in Lanao del Sur, where they dropped bombs that killed top terrorists, and in patrols at the West Philippine Sea. 

But as Jairo Bolledo points out in this story, critical questions about the crash remain unanswered. 

And to add: What was an FA-50 doing in Bukidnon in a night operation? Was it part of a military operation against the weakened New People’s Army (NPA)? Was it needed when there are even no large NPA formations in the area? 

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– Rappler.com

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