Written for The Diplomat
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC), marking a significant step forward in the pursuit of accountability and justice for the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by state forces during his bloody campaign against illegal drugs. How will Duterte’s arrest in Manila and detention in the Netherlands affect Philippine politics?
Duterte’s allies have been invoking the rights of the former president and the need to uphold due process and the rule of law, which is supremely ironic and hypocritical because these basic tenets of justice were denied to thousands of suspects and innocent civilians who were brutally killed under the administration of the former president.
Philippines Inches Closer to Cooperating with the International Criminal Court
Written for The Diplomat
Threatened with prosecution over his bloody “war on drugs,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2019. After the end of his term in 2022, his successor and political ally, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., affirmed the decision to stay out of the ICC.
Two years later, the Marcos government has maintained the position of non-cooperation with the ICC but its hardline stance has already evolved.
Maybe Duterte was just taunting the ICC when he mentioned his willingness to be investigated by the international body, but he merely gave the Marcos government the opportunity to announce that if an arrest warrant is issued against him, authorities are more than willing to serve it to him.