The arrest warrant was handed over to President Ferdinand R. Marcos younger of the Philippines in Manila at 3am. Monday. The person named there: his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, the Firebrand whose drug war left thousands of people dead.
But the action of the International Criminal Court was not simple, as the Philippines are not a member of the court. So at 6:30 am, the government of Mr Marcos received another warrant for Mr Duterte, this time from Interpol, who acted on behalf of the court and whose Philippines are a member.
Mr Marcos recalled his next step to a address in the nation on Tuesday. “Okay, we will put all our plans in their place and let’s move on as we had discussed,” he said, telling the head of his justice ministry.
Just over 24 hours later, Mr Duterte – who has long been over the law – was arrested in Manila. By the end of Tuesday, it was put on a plane intended for the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.
It was a Swift Coda in a long chapter of impunity in the Philippines. Only one handful of people have been condemned in relation to the murders in Mr Duterte’s drug war, in which 30,000 are estimated to have died. Now, the man who publicly received the loyalty to the slaughterhouse was sent to court to deal with justice, in part because of the shift of political winds.
Mr Marcos, the son of dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, went into power after shaping an alliance with Sara Duterte, daughter of Duterte’s. Running to a national unity platform, they won the presidency and vice president in 2022, but their wedding for convenience began to unfold quickly, leading to mistrust.
Ms Dutertete, who leads to polls to succeed Mr Marcos, has passed against him, saying that he wanted to cut his head and threaten to dig his father’s body and throw it in the ocean. Her father called the younger Mr Marcos as a “drug addict” and a “weak leader”.
Mr Marcos mostly made the comments and said little to the public. But his allies interrupted Ms Duterte last month, trafficking her political career.
Then came the arrest of her father, whom she and her allies denounce as political oppression, though Mr Markos said she had simply followed an international convention to comply with Interpol’s warrant.
“This was justice, no matter how we got here,” said Maria Ressa, a journalist who won the Nobel Prize, who has long been targeted by Mr Duterte, because the news website, Rappler, has explored drug war.
“Now, is there politics? There is always the policy involved, “he added.” But it is a reminder to the rest of the world that accountability is coming to you sooner or later and that impunity does not last forever. “
It was still difficult for some Philippines to believe that such a moment had arrived.
Florecita Perez and his son Joemarie Claverio, Janel Claverio, 27, were killed by the Masked Men at Navotas in December 2019. This week, Ms Perez said in an interview, pumped her first in the air when she heard about her arrest, but she waited until her partner was waiting for her. Because he thought the news would make him hold the Cry.
As he was going to sleep, he hugged him from behind. “I said,” Hon, Duterte arrested. “He turned to me and said,” Oh? Will he not be able to escape? “
Mr Dutertete was expected to land in the Netherlands on Wednesday night and transferred to The Hague, where both the ICC and the detention facilities are based. A court official said Mr Duterte is not expected to appear in court on Wednesday, but will probably be charged with a panel of three judges in the coming days.
The ICC usually has long -term proceedings and a scheduled trial is not expected to start for months.
Ms Dutertete was also on her way to The Hague to help organize her father’s legal team. Another daughter of former leader, Veronica Duterte, posted the screen predators of the video calls with their father while on the plane. In an instagram position, he wrote: “A flight that lasts more than eight hours but left only with a sandwich for food ???”
But thousands of people are happy when the chartered flight that brought Mr Duterte took off from an air base in Manila. To some, he remembered when Mr Marcos’ father was removed about four decades ago and left in the United States.
“This is not exactly what it should have been for my parents on February 25 with these titles in the newspaper, saying:” It’s everywhere, Marcos leaves “, but he felt very close,” said Sol Iglesias, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Philippine. 1986.)
Mrs Iglesias said it was clear that the current president had given a clear campaign to limit Dutetertes’ power in recent months.
“None of them would be possible without his agreement,” he said.
Although he had once promised not to cooperate with the ICC, Mr Marcos told reporters in November that he would not prevent the court and that he had obligations with Interpol.
Mr Duterte has abandoned the post with one of the highest approval ratings in the Philippine history, and Ms. Dutertete is still leading polls for the presidency in 2028, but the arrest is now leaving her in an extremely vulnerable position. And in recent months, the Dutertes have not been able to galvanize large crowds for their protests.
When approving Mr Duterte’s arrest, Mr Marcos is lucky to eliminate Duters as a political force without any significant reaction. The issue is now likely to be ahead and center during the intermediate elections, which is considered a mediation battle between Marcoses and Dutetertes in May.
Two Dutertete allies – his former assistant, Christopher “Bong” go. And a former police chief, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the architect of the Dutertte-Duterte Drugs war is re-elected to the Senate. Later this year, the Philippine Senators will decide whether to condemn Mrs Duterte for her question. A decision against her would put her out of the run for the top job.
So far, the public feeling seems to be behind Mr Marcos. A March 2024 survey of more than 1,700 Philippians showed that almost three in five approved by the ICC.
On Wednesday night, in the town of Cotobato, a fort by Mr. Duterte, residents were holding banners and illuminated cell phones in protest for his arrest. A few hundred people appeared, but the show soon fell out.
Marlise Simons contributed a report from Paris and See Aie Balagtas and Camille Elemia from Manila.
