Palace dismisses Duterte's ‘kidnapping’ claim for ICC hearing absence

Malacañang on Thursday rejected former president Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that he was “kidnapped” by the Philippine government as he refused to attend the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) hearings next week.

“Alam naman natin kung anong ibig sabihin ng kidnapping (We know what kidnapping means),” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita in an interview.

“Since nag-start na ang hearing doon, pinauubaya ng ating gobyerno through RA 9851 ang pagdinig nang tuluyan ng kaso doon,” she added.

(Since the hearing there has started, our government through RA 9851 has been allowing the case to continue to be heard there.)

Castro cited the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

She said under Section 17, Philippine authorities defer to an international tribunal if a case is already being heard or investigated there. 

She also pointed out that the complaints against Duterte were filed by Filipino citizens who felt they could not obtain justice locally at the time.

READ — DAY IN COURT: ICC Hearings on the Charges vs. Duterte

In a signed notification dated February 17, the 80-year-old Duterte said he will not attend the hearings from February 23 to 27 for several reasons – but mainly because he does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction over him.

“I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over my person. I am a Filipino citizen forcibly pushed into a jet and renditioned to The Hague in the Netherlands in flagrant contravention of my country’s Constitution and of national sovereignty. My kidnapping was facilitated by the office of the incumbent President of the Philippines with a plane specially chartered for this purpose,” he said.

Castro also dismissed suggestions that Vice President Sara Duterte’s declaration of a 2028 presidential bid could have implications on her father’s crime against humanity case over his drug war.

But Castro noted that Sara’s 2028 presidential run could be used to frame that their family was facing political persecution.

“Most probably, maaari niya lang itong ginagamit sa ngayon para magtuloy-tuloy ang kanilang naratibo na ang pag-uusig sa kanya ay dahil lang sa pamumulitika,” Castro said.

(Most probably, she could just be using this right now to continue their narrative that their persecution is just because of politics.)

In a separate statement, House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima said Duterte's waiver and declaration is proof that he is of sound mind.

"Its legal effect is based on the premise that he understood the statement so as to affix his signature to it. It is evidence against [his lawyer Nicolas] Kaufman's own argument that Duterte is not fit to stand trial because he is supposedly unable to give instructions for his defense,” De Lima, a former Justice secretary, said, adding that the statement is clear evidence that Duterte is able to defend himself.

She further said that the statement is both a propaganda and legal strategy as it projects a defiant Duterte but at the same time appeals to the emotion by saying he already expects to die inside prison.

"It is legal strategy because Duterte's appearance will not serve any positive purpose but might endanger his defense in case Kaufman is not able to control him before the ICC judges, as Duterte is famous for his outbursts in whatever venue regardless of the solemnity of the occasion,” De Lima added.

Such waiver of appearance, according to the lawmaker, is a clear attempt to restrain the unpredictable nature of Duterte, who was once seen motioning as if he is ready to hit De Lima and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in one of the House inquiry on drug war killings in 2024. 

“This is more for the benefit of Kaufman than an authentic show of defiance. Duterte would have boasted that he implemented the drug war to save his country, rather than deny that any state-sponsored mass execution ever happened. He always boasted about killing and ordering the killing of drug war victims. His own past statements and admissions are the very evidence of his guilt of the crime against humanity he is charged with,” De Lima said.

“For him to say now that he did not order killings is an act of outright contempt for all Filipinos who lived through the nightmare of his drug war. The statement reveals that up to now he cannot accept that human beings are subject to accountability for their actions, that the ICC is real, that there is such a higher power and authority that can put him on trial and hold him to account. The statement only reveals Duterte's pathological mindset—he still thinks, even when already in prison, that he is not beholden to any law or morality other than his own,” she added. —with a report from Llanesca T. Panti/AOL, GMA Integrated News