📸 Manny Piñol facebook page
Shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, accompanied by his long-time friend and former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, was whisked off from our country to be brought to The Hague, Netherlands to face the International Criminal Court.
It was a sad day for those who loved and believed this man, especially the people of Mindanao who now enjoy the blessings of Peace that he forged with rebel forces who fought government for over half-a-century.
He was not a perfect President, even as a person, but in his own unique and peculiar ways he made the streets safe and gifted the country with Peace in the Southern Philippines.
As a long-time friend and a former member of his Official Family as Secretary of Agriculture, I feel empty inside knowing that we may never see him comeback to our country given the lengthy trials that the ICC is noted for.
Since I am not a lawyer, I would not be a competent interpreter of whether his arrest by the ICC was legal or not.
As a Filipino Citizen, however, I can say with certainty that the arrest of a former Philippine President by an international police organization and his trial in The Hague composed of foreign judges is a slap and a huge insult to our judicial system in the country.
President Rodrigo Duterte is a Filipino and if, indeed, he committed the crimes alleged, he should face trial in a Philippine Court to be judged by Filipinos.
The mere thought of a Filipino leader being hauled to The Hague to be tried in a Court composed of foreigners makes our country look like a Bushland Banana Republic.
All of these arguments, however, will not change the fact that President Duterte is beyond our reach now, even by our own Supreme Court.
I fear for his well-being in the face of the expected lengthy trial and incarceration in a jail away from our country knowing how frail he is now.
Today, I will join the people of my Province in Prayer for his safety, well-being and deliverance.
May God bless President Rodrigo Duterte and the Filipino people.
