Sen. Bato dela Rosa Concedes Duterte’s Arrest Warrant ‘Valid’
BATO DELA ROSA – The Philippine Senator stressed that there is no question on the validity of the arrest warrant against former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Many Filipinos undeniably did not see it coming that former Pres. Duterte will be arrested by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The unexpected turn of events transpired last March 11 upon the arrival of the former President from Hong Kong.
Duterte was detained at the Villamor Air Base for several hours and was ‘forced’ to board a plane to The Hague, Netherlands via Dubai on the eve of March 11. Currently, former Pres. Duterte is under a regular detention after he was released from the hospital wing of the ICC detention facility in The Hague.
Amid the detention of the former President, there are questions over the legality of his arrest. It was previously claimed by Duterte’s camp that it was allegedly an “illegal detention” as there was no warrant of arrest.
Atty. Joel Butuyan, an ICC-accredited lawyer, denied that it was a ‘warrantless’ arrest. He also stressed that the Philippine government has two (2) legal basis over the implementation of the arrest and former Pres. Duterte allegedly even received special treatment.
Recently, Sen. Bato dela Rosa who criticized Pres. Bongbong Marcos for allowing the government to act on the arrest of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte admitted that the arrest warrant against the former President is valid. Based on a report on Inquirer, he stressed that they are no longer questioning the validity of the warrant of arrest as the former President is already in the custody of the ICC.
“Otherwise, Duterte should have been released (from detention) and returned to the country if there’s no warrant of arrest. So there’s no question about the validity of the warrant,” Dela Rosa said.
Based on the report, Sen. Bato dela Rosa said that what remains a question is the cooperation of the Philippine government with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). Pres. Bongbong Marcos and the Malacañang previously stressed that the government acted on the arrest because of its commitment with the Interpol and not because it was the ICC that issues the arrest warrant.
“Why did we cooperate based on Interpol’s diffusion notice? Can the Interpol dictate on us? Are we not a sovereign state?” the Senator said.
Reportedly, Dela Rosa stressed that Marcos Jr. could have turned down the request of the Interpol for coordination. Previously, Malacañang expressed its disagreement on the stance of Dela Rosa that he may hide if the ICC issues an arrest warrant.