ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Rodrigo Duterte arrested as country prepares for mid-term vote

Manila (Agenzia Fides) - Executing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Philippine police arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte, 79, today, March 11, at Manila airport, immediately after his arrival from Hong Kong. Duterte will face charges of "crimes of murder against humanity" at the ICC for the "war on drugs" campaign launched during his term in office, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug dealers and addicts. The ICC arrest warrant is the result of a years-long investigation by the court's Prosecutor's Office into the campaign promoted by Duterte during his presidential term (2016-2022) and, previously, when he was mayor of Davao City (1998-2016), on the island of Mindanao, south of the Philippines. During hearings before the Senate and the House of Representatives in October and November 2024, Duterte had openly defended the “war on drugs” under his administration, saying that its aim was to protect young people. The former president admitted to having formed “death squads” (a term he himself used) to combat drug-related crime, both during his time as mayor of Davao and later during his presidency. During that period, the Philippine government acknowledged at least 6,600 killings at the hands of the police, but the number of deaths attributed to “paramilitary groups” exceeds, according to NGOs, 20,000. In 2019, the Philippines, under President Duterte, left the ICC, but the court, based in The Hague, declared that it retains jurisdiction over killings that occurred before the withdrawal. Among the Philippine civil society groups that have filed complaints with the ICC is the Philippine Catholic network “Rise Up,” which brings together victims’ families, religious, priests, lay people, lawyers, communities and ecclesial movements committed to promoting human dignity, justice and the common good. Today, the government led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared that it will not block the ICC’s investigation and questioning in the Duterte war on drugs case. In the Philippine Catholic community, “there is an emphasis on the need for accountability to ensure that victims and their families obtain justice and to send a clear message that no one is above the law,” said Daniel Pilario, CM, a Vincentian missionary and professor at Adamson University, who was directly involved in the psychological recovery and social advancement of the families of victims of that time of violence. “The families of the victims deserve truth, reparation and justice. We must ensure that these crimes are not repeated,” he said. On the other hand, “Duterte’s arrest does not mean that he is guilty, but that the crimes he is accused of must be investigated,” said Monsignor Antonio Ledesma, SJ, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagayan de Oro, on the island of Mindanao. There, he explains, support for Duterte and his family remains strong: people have taken to the streets in both Cagayan de Oro and Davao to show their solidarity with the detained former president.
The measure, notes the Archbishop – who is now president of the Birhen sa Kota (Our Lady of the Wall) Development Foundation – is also part of the ongoing political struggle between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his vice president Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president. The two political dynasties, which had allied themselves in the 2022 presidential elections, are now in open conflict, just as the country approaches the mid-term vote, in which Congress, part of the Senate and regional and municipal administrations will be elected. "This arrest enters fully in the electoral campaign and will be a cause of confrontation between opposing factions," said Archbishop Ledesma. "The political, as well as the legal, value of this act, which the Marcos government has authorized, cannot be ignored." (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 11/3/2024)

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