The arrest warrant was delivered to President Ferdinand R. Marcos the younger from the Philippines in Manila on Monday at 3 am. Person named on it: his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, a fiery brand whose The war against drugs left thousands of people dead.
But acting on International Criminal Court order It was not simple, because the Philippines were not a member of the court. Thus, at 6:30, the Government of Mr. Marcos received another order for Mr. Duterte, this time from Interpol, who acted on behalf of the court and of which Philippi’s member were.
Mr. Marcos recalled his next step in Nation on Tuesday. “Ok, we’ll put all our plans in our place and continue as we talked,” he crossed, he said to the head of his Ministry of Justice.
Just over 24 hours later, Mr. Duterte – who had been around for a long time above the law – was arrested in Manila. By the end of Tuesday he was put on a plane that faced the Hague Charges of crimes against humanity.
It was a fast code to long chapter of impunity in the Philippines. Only a few people are convicted of the killings of Mr. Duterte’s drug war, which estimates that as many as 30,000 have died. Now the man who publicly took the merit of the massacre sent to the court to face justice, partly because of the displacement in political winds.
Mr. Marcos, son of dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, climbed to power after Alliance formation With Sarah Duterte, the daughter of Mr. Duterte. Running on the national unity platform, they won the Presidency and Vice -Presidency in 2022. But their marriage of convenience began to reveal quickly, guided by distrust.
Mrs. Duterte, who leads to the polling station to inherit Mr. Marcos, broke against him, saying she wanted to Cut off his head and threatening to dig his father’s body and throw him into the ocean. Her own father called the younger Mr. Marcos “drug addict” and “weak leader.”
Mr Marcos mostly kicked the comments and said a little in public. But his allies Immere Mrs. Duterte Last month, having his political career.
This was followed by the arrest of her father, whom she and her allies condemned as political oppression, although Mr. Marcos said that he simply followed the international convention in accordance with the Interpol order.
“This was justice, no matter how we got here,” he said Maria Ressa, Nobel’s Award -winning journalist Who has long been the target of Mr. Duterete because her news website, Rappler, explored drug war.
“Now, is there politics? There is always politics,” she added. “But it is a reminder to the rest of the world that responsibility comes to you sooner or later and that impunity does not last forever.”
Some Filipinos were still hard to believe that such a moment had arrived.
Son of Florecita Perez and Joemarie Claverio, Jenel Claverio, 27, masked men in Zavitas in December 2019. This week, she said in an interview that she pumped her fist in an interview when she heard about Mr. Duterte’s arrest, but waited for her to find her wing, because she was on a hide because she was on her lap.
As they were about to sleep, she hugged him from behind. “I said,” Hon, Duterte was arrested. “He turned to me and said, ‘Oh? Will he not be able to get out?”
Mr. Duterte landed in the Netherlands on Wednesday night, and was supposed to be taken to The Hague, where ICC and his detention was based. The court official said Mr. Duterte will not be expected to appear in court on Wednesday, but that he will probably be appointed before the Council with three courts in the next few days.
ICC usually has a prolonged pre -prevention procedure, and it is not expected that the planned trial will begin for months.
Mrs. Duterte was also on her way to The Hague to help organize her father’s legal team. The second daughter of the former leader, Veronica Duterte, posted the screen in the grabbing video calls with her father while on the plane. In one post on Instagram, she wrote: “A flight that lasted for more than eight hours, but left only a sandwich to eat ???”
But thousands of people were looking forward to when Chartrered the flight carried by Mr. Duterte flew out of the air base in Manila. It reminded some of the time when Mr. Marcos’s father was overthrown almost four decades ago and fled to the United States.
“It’s not exactly what it had to be for my parents on February 25 with these newspapers in the newspaper, saying,” It’s all over, Marcos leaves, “but felt pretty close,” said Sol Iglesias, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Filipin. (Critics accuse the younger Mr. Marcos of trying History of white washing not proper recognition of the importance of that day in 1986)
Mrs. Iglesias said it was clear that the current president had given a wide campaign approval to reduce Duters’ government in recent months.
“None of this would be possible without his landing,” she said.
Although he once committed himself not to cooperate with the ICC, Mr. Marcos told reporters in November that he would not block the court and had obligations with Interpol.
Mr. Duterte has abandoned the duty with one of the highest grades of approval in Philippine history, and Mrs. Duterte still runs surveys for the 2028 Presidency, but is now leaving her in a very vulnerable position. And in recent months, Duteres has failed to encourage big crowds for their protests.
Approaching the arrest of Mr. Duterete, Mr. Marcos is gambling that he can eliminate Dutertes as a political force without any greater return blow. The question is now probably the front and central during the middle elections, and in May it is seen as a proxy battle between Marcoses and Duters.
Two Duterte Allies – his former assistant, Christopher “Bong” Go; And the former police chief, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Mr. Dutertea-Treza’s architect, re-elections in the Senate. Later this year, the Philippine Senators will decide whether to condemn Mrs. Duterte for her impeerve. The decision against her would just get her out of the candidate for a top job.
So far, it seems that public feeling is behind Mr. Marcos. Research in March 2024. At more than 1,700 Philippines, it showed that there were almost three of the five approved ICC investigations.
On Wednesday night, in the town of Cotobato, the stronghold of Mr. Duterete, residents held banners and illuminated cell phones in protest due to his arrest. Several hundred people appeared, but demonstrations soon kicked out.
Marlise Simons contribute to reporting from Paris and Aie Balagtas See and Camille Elemi from Manila.
