By Herman Tiu Laurel

 

MAJORITY of Filipinos are totally enraged at the treachery of Bongbong Marcos for springing the malignant ICC (International Criminal Court) trap on former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, brazenly welcoming the violation of the nation’s sovereignty and dignity, displaying before countless cameras the gross violation of due process and the rights of President Duterte, his family and his aides, and the manhandling of his lawyers.

The Filipino people felt collectively and personally violated by the entire malignant operation of BBM with his denial in January 2024 of the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines only to have a complete turn-around with the ICC knife in his hands to stab Duterte in the back.

The ICC does not have international credibility anyway, and worse, seen as a Kangaroo court by many. In 2017 the African Union threatened mass withdrawal and several countries did indeed leave.

The many countries that value sovereignty and national dignity refuse to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, such as China, the US, Russia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey, as well as smaller countries like Cuba, Bahamas, Chile, Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Surinam, Qatar, South Africa and Burundi.

President Duterte immensely increased the prestige of the Philippines when he withdrew the country from the ICC in 2019.

The Philippines has been plunged into turmoil by BBM’s treachery, the extent of which we have never seen before, not even in the 1983 US-engineered social unrest from the Ninoy Aquino assassination which was limited mainly to Metro-Manila.

The abduction of FPRRD and his detention in an alien land under an alien institution has lit the fire all over the country but particularly in the Visayas and the entire Mindanao and other islands down South. Daily and nightly marches, motorcades, rallies are recorded by participants and spread across all social media platforms.

Dozens of police and military men have resigned in sadness and protest. Many retired police and military officers and alumni of the Philippine Military Academy posted on social media, protesting the insult to the nation’s sovereignty and dignity and the PNP violations of rights and due process and the dignity and respect for former president Duterte– the insufferable arrogance and boorish bullying of BBM bulldog, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director, Gen. Nicolas Torre.

An extended legal struggle can now be expected while the popular mass actions continue here, in the Netherlands at the Hague, and in the many cities around the world where our OFWs can congregate.

Our political situation has become very unstable and volatile that another spark may set of a conflagration as other issues such as the Supreme Court hearing on Congress’ shenanigans involving the 2025 national budget, the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, and the illegal transfer of PhilHealth funds back to the national treasury.

The volatility of the national scene is such that the Australian government has already issued a travel advisory to its citizens to avoid the Philippines “due to the threat of terrorism and violent crime” as well as “increased risk of demonstrations and civil unrest following recent events….”

BBM and the ICC should heed China’s advice to “avoid politicizing” the arrest of Pres. Duterte and applying “double standard” in his case, which we believe, should be dismissed due to the strength of arguments for violations of jurisdiction, due process and the actions taken by the government to ensure he is delivered to ICC custody.

Even the slightest proof of affront to the dignity of President Duterte in the custody of the ICC can set off a social firestorm.

   

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