A seemingly harmless “welfare check” on former President Rodrigo Duterte conducted by agents of the Marcos administration has put the spotlight on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
With the former president’s deteriorating health, both the ICC and the Marcos administration have a lot to answer after the ICC allowed Filipino agents “to intrude upon him and exploit his frail and compromised health.”
“This is nothing less than an abuse of power against a vulnerable individual,” Vice-President Sara Duterte said in a statement she issued in reaction to the incident.
The Duterte family’s concern is understandable after lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s disclosure that PRRD told him about a couple of incidents when he fell in his cell.
“As a result of one of these incidents, he lost consciousness and was evacuated to (the) hospital where he was assessed for cranial and brain injury,” PRRD’s lead counsel revealed.
Kaufman complained that none of this was reported either to the defense team or to the family in real time.
“The former President is fatigued from his detention and physically incapacitated by various medical conditions afflicting a person of his advanced age,” he added amid increasing concern not only of PRRD’s immediate family but also his supporters at home and abroad.
Kaufman lamented that “all of these conditions are now known to the Marcos administration after its representatives conducted a surreptitious visit to the ICC detention centre to gather intelligence under the pretense of offering supposed ‘care and concern’ for the welfare of one of its citizens.”
Coming from an administration that has earned a brutal reputation in going after perceived political threats and critics, “care and concern” is the last thing expected of it.
The incident also raised questions on the ICC’s treatment of PRRD under its custody.
“Even the most basic care for the complaint of an ingrown toenail – easily treatable – cannot be done swiftly. The ICC has persistently ignored the clear need for a 24-hour bedside caregiver,” VP Sara lamented.
Already under fire from US President Donald Trump and other prominent leaders, the ICC now faces deeper scrutiny given its grandiose claims of being the highest international court.
“The continued detention of former President Duterte under such troubling conditions is not only unjust but inhumane. It amounts to punishment without having been convicted of any crime,” the Vice-President added.
After the damaging revelations, it has become imperative for both the ICC and BBM to ensure that PRRD’s health will not further deteriorate otherwise the ICC will become an international pariah while BBM will have to deal with irate citizens already agitated by massive corruption and sheer incompetence and who resent his savage treatment of PRRD.
“The ICC should act now to rectify this gross injustice and ensure that Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is afforded the proper care and, ultimately, the humanitarian considerations he rightfully deserves,” VP Sara concluded.
Indeed, time is running out on both the ICC and BBM before something untoward happens. God forbid it will not only be a cause for eternal regret but the repudiation of their very existence.
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