Threat vs. ICC execs may lead to issuance of warrant to arrest Duterte

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday said that President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to arrest International Criminal Court investigators once they are in Philippines to conduct human rights probe may lead to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest. 

"'Yang mismong threat niya na ganyan, [na] papakain niya sa buwaya... papahuli niya at [ang] pag-withdraw niya sa [Rome Statute], ito 'yung gagamitin ng ICC to justify the issuance of a warrant ...sa ICC investigation proper pa lang pwede na silang mag-issue ng arrest warrant," Trillanes told Super Radio dzBB.

"Kung 'yung ganyan ang government ay 'di nakikipag-cooperate, worse nanakot... 'yan pa mismo 'yung gagamitin na reason kung bakit mag-i-issue ng warrant of arrest against him," he added. 

Trillanes, a fierce critic of Duterte and his administration's war against illegal drugs, said it is clear that the chief executive is afraid of the case filed against him before The Hague-based tribunal.

"Maliwanag dito na takot na takot itong si Duterte dito sa kaso niya sa ICC. Lumalabas diyan na talagang duwag siya. Alam ninyo ang hirap dito nagsiga-siga siya at pinapatay niya ang mga Pilipino --20,000 na ang namamatay 'yung ibang mga kababayan natin, hindi alam o walang pakialam," the senator said.

Last Friday, Duterte threatened to arrest ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda once she visits the country to investigate the killings linked to the government's anti-narcotics campaign.

“Kaya ikaw Ms. Fatou [ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda], ‘wag kang pumunta dito because I will bar you. Not because I am afraid of you, I said, because you will never have jurisdiction over my person, not in a million years,” Duterte said.

Duterte ordered the Philippines' withdrawal from the Rome Statute due to what he considered as “baseless, unprecedented, and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration, and the alleged attempt of Bensouda to place him under the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

He also maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the country, noting that the Rome Statute—the treaty that established the ICC—is not enforceable in the Philippines because it was not published in the government's Official Gazette. —LBG, GMA News