After the chartered Lear jet carrying Rodrigo Duterte finally took off from Manila late Tuesday night for The Hague in the Netherlands, a former senator and a human rights lawyer predicted that his departure would be for good. 

In The Hague, the 79-year-old former president will face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his brutal war on drugs that killed tens of thousands.

“That man will never see the light of day [again],” former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who filed a communication along with then Magdalo Party list Rep. Gary Alejano against Duterte in the ICC in 2017, told CoverStory.ph on Wednesday morning. “We have seen the last of Duterte.”

Trillanes believes that the ICC, by issuing the arrest warrant for Duterte, had gathered ample documentary and testimonial evidence to convict the ex-president.

“It will go straight to trial because the Pre-Trial Chamber has already determined that the threshold of evidence is certainty of conviction,’’ he said via Zoom.

Duterte was arrested soon after he stepped off a plane from Hong Kong on Tuesday morning. He was whisked off to a holding room in nearby Villamor Air Base away from a crowd of supporters, and put on a chartered plane to The Hague 12 hours later.

He questioned the legality of his arrest. On Wednesday, his children petitioned the Supreme Court to order the government to immediately return him from The Hague and produce him in court.

Sufficient basis

In its warrant, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber said it found sufficient basis to hold Duterte “individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator” for murder as a crime against humanity allegedly committed between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.

“The Chamber found that there was an attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to an organisational policy while Mr. Duterte was the head of the Davao Death Squad, and pursuant to a State policy while he was the President of the Philippines,” the ICC said.

The court’s Office of the Prosecutor filed an “urgent application” for a warrant on the grounds that Duterte was alleged liable for the crimes of murder, torture and rape. The pretrial court, however, dropped the allegations of rape and torture from the warrant for having insufficient basis.

Trillanes explained that the international tribunal issues an arrest warrant for an individual from a member-state based on “probable cause” because it expects cooperation from that state.

But in the case of Duterte, who is from a non-member-state, the court issued the warrant against him based on the assumption that “the evidence you have would be enough to guarantee conviction,’’ he said. 

The ICC set a “higher threshold of evidence’’ for persons accused of crimes from non-member-states like the Philippines because it assumes non-cooperation from that state, Trillanes said, adding:  

“As I have mentioned, the threshold of the ICC Prosecutor is certainty of conviction before they file the application for a warrant of arrest. That means they have enough to convict. That’s solid.”      

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had maintained that he does not recognize ICC’s jurisdiction in the Philippines, echoing assertions by Duterte and his camp. But Malacañang officials later said the government would cooperate with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) that served the warrant on Duterte on Tuesday morning.

On Duterte’s orders, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s legal foundation, in 2018. This took effect a year later. But the international court retained jurisdiction over the alleged crimes committed when the country was a member.

Conviction

Like Trillanes, Kristina Conti—who as an ICC assistant to counsel can help in investigations and trials pending before the court—is confident that the warrant for Duterte’s arrest would lead to his conviction. 

Conti said the international tribunal issued a pre-indictment warrant to ensure that Duterte appears before it and “to stand trial” for the crime he’s accused of. “It’s an official summons to stand trial, initially to answer questions of the court as regards your participation, but because it finds that you’re one of those who bear the greatest responsibilities,’’ she said in an interview.

When the Office of the Prosecutor applied for the warrant, it was sending the message, “We know we want to convict this person,” said Conti, who is also a lawyer for the families of victims of extrajudicial killings.   

“When you’re a lawyer, you prepare for trial until the end. And the end-point is conviction,” she added. “Some are asking: Is this the last time we’re going to see Duterte? It could be.”       

‘This is it’

On Wednesday, the kin of the victims of extrajudicial killings celebrated Duterte’s arrest and decried his attempt at playing victim during a joint conference at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) chapel in Quezon City.

“Yesterday, I got a call telling me that Duterte has been arrested. I told myself, ‘This is it,’ but I was crying,” said Llore Pasco, who lost her two sons—Crisanto, 34, and Juan Carlos, 31—to gunmen on May 12, 2017. Their bodies were dumped at the UP Arboretum in Quezon City.  “But this is just the beginning. There’s a long struggle ahead of us,” she said.

Pasco said her sons’ names were taken out of their barangay’s drug watchlist even before Duterte was elected president in May 2016.

Jane Lee said she “jumped for joy” at the news of Duterte’s arrest, which came days before the death anniversary of her husband, Michael, 34. Michael was randomly shot dead by gunmen “riding in tandem” while he was waiting for his assigned jeepney on a road in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, on the night of March 20, 2017.

“I was at work, and I wanted to go home right away to share the news with my children. I wanted to tell them that what we’ve been hoping for has finally happened,’’ she said, holding back tears.

Lee’s husband’s name was not on their barangay’s drug watchlist. Before him, a jeepney driver, a tricycle driver, a “barker” and a traffic enforcer had been waylaid, she said. 

“Whenever they say he (Duterte) is the victim, we are filled with anger. We’re the ones who experienced violence,’’ Lee said. “Now tell us, who is the real victim here? Because why do we need to do this, face the media and tell our stories again? It’s not easy.” 

‘Co-perpetrators’

Emily Soriano, whose 15-year-old son Angelito was among seven people killed inside a home in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, on Dec. 28, 2016, said Duterte’s co-perpetrators, including then Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, should also be held accountable.

“I won’t be satisfied if only Duterte will be held accountable. All of his co-perpetrators, including Bato, Bong Go and the policemen in the community, should be brought to justice, too,’’ Soriano said.

Duterte’s former long-time aide, Sen. Bong Go, brought an ambulance to the airport on Tuesday morning to pick up the ex-president who had a scheduled checkup at a hospital the following day. But police did not let him through.

After Duterte, the ICC would focus next on Dela Rosa, who enforced the antidrug campaign dubbed “Oplan Double Barrel” and offered rewards to policemen for every death, according to Trillanes.

“It will move to the next level of investigation of Bato dela Rosa. That was set aside because it was focused on Digong (Duterte). After that, some of its resources will now be shifted to pursuing the investigation against Bato,’’ the ex-senator said. 

Dela Rosa, a co-perpetrator in the cases filed in the ICC, said he would “ready” if a warrant is served on him. 

When Duterte is brought before the ICC, the charges against him will be read, as it is done during arraignment in Philippine courts. He will be detained throughout his trial, which can last from two to 10 years.

Duterte can move for an “interim release.” But Trillanes said this can be granted only if Duterte is found to be in “a life-threatening” medical condition. Conti said anyone can stand trial “for as long as you’re fit.”

Read more: Rodrigo Duterte arrested after arriving in Manila from Hong Kong