‘A done deal’

All those protest rallies and petitions before the Supreme Court notwithstanding, at this point it looks like the International Criminal Court will proceed with the trial of Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity.

The ICC has already acquired jurisdiction over the person of the former Philippine president. Several lawyers familiar with international law say the ICC generally disregards the manner by which a person wanted by the court is brought to its custody.

As Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla put it yesterday, “It’s a done deal.”

The lawyers also noted that the opening manifestation delivered by Duterte’s current legal counsel, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea – which they described as out of order in an introductory hearing at the court – did not help Duterte win points with the ICC, with its dig at a “troubled legal institution” finding a “prize catch.”

Perhaps with ICC-accredited Harry Roque joining the legal team, and with British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman hired as its head, Duterte’s defense will be fully cognizant of ICC procedures.

As noted by the lawyers, Medialdea, who was allowed by the ICC to initially serve as Duterte’s lead counsel, appeared unfamiliar with ICC procedures, which are different from ordinary courts especially in the Philippines.

But Medialdea is not an ICC-accredited lawyer. And maybe his remarks were directed not so much at ICC Judge Iulia Motoc, but at the audience in the Philippines.

That audience of Duterte Diehard Supporters or DDS is being accused of engaging in a campaign of trolling and spreading fake news against the Marcos administration, the drug war victims’ relatives and their lawyers, and even Motoc, who read Duterte his rights and the charges against him.

The trolling at least can be avoided by those who don’t bother reading the garbage proliferating online.

A bigger problem is if the harassment becomes physical and turns violent.

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Even relatives of the man who campaigned on a kill, kill, kill platform are not known for holding back their violent tendencies. And they behave as if they are entitled to slap around ordinary Filipinos.

Sara Duterte, when she was mayor of Davao, repeatedly punched a sheriff who had served a court order for the demolition of shanties in the city. More recently, she openly admitted wanting to decapitate Bongbong Marcos. Naturally, BBM’s supporters described it as the peroration of an unhinged psycho.

When Rodrigo Duterte was being led by police to the jet that would fly him to The Hague, his partner Honeylet Avanceña whacked a female member of the police Special Action Force on the head with a cell phone. Avanceña and her daughter Veronica were being restrained by police from preventing Duterte from boarding the plane.

This psychotic propensity to violence can be dangerous for those who are expected to testify against Duterte.

In reading the formal charges against Duterte, the ICC’s Motoc cited only 43 killings. Lawyers have explained that the 43 constitute a representative grouping of cases that will prove the charge of state-sponsored, systematic extrajudicial killings that can constitute murder as a crime against humanity.

The representative cases were mostly from “one-time, big-time” Oplan Tokhang operations in Bulacan and Caloocan City in 2017 and 2018. Within a span of 24 hours from Aug. 15 to 16, 2017, Bulacan police shot dead 32 suspects and arrested 107. It was the highest death toll in a single police operation in one day during Duterte’s crackdown on drugs. The Bulacan police chief at the time, Romeo Caramat Jr., could be among those to be issued ICC arrest warrants.

Told about the incident, then president Duterte publicly said it was good, and expressed hope that 32 more could be killed daily: “Yung namatay sa Bulacan in a massive raid… maganda yun. Makapatay lang tayo ng another 32 every day, maybe we can reduce what ails this country.”

There are reports that relatives of the victims in the 43 cases announced by Motoc in the charge sheet against Duterte are beginning to receive threats and experiencing dangerous harassment.

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ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti says if the harassment of victims’ relatives continues, they could file a formal complaint against Duterte’s camp before the ICC.

Such complaints are not unusual in the ICC, and the court has acted on them, Conti told The STAR’s online show “Truth on the Line” last Monday. If proven, she said the complaints could aggravate the case against Duterte.

Due to concerns over the safety of prosecution witnesses, Conti said the ICC has allowed their remote testimony in several cases in the past.

It’s the first time, however, that Conti saw a suspect allowed to face the court by remote feed for the introductory hearing. Maybe this was in deference to Duterte’s position as a former head of government.

Conti says she herself has been subjected to blistering online vitriol since Duterte’s turnover to the ICC. She appealed to the DDS to raise the level of public discourse. Doing this, of course, would defeat the purpose of trolling.

Several government agencies have partnered to crack down on trolls and purveyors of fake news. The Marcos administration may also consider providing some form of protection to potential victims of violent harassment.

It’s been just a week since Duterte’s arrest. The battle for accountability is being waged on multiple platforms, and it is just starting to heat up.

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