DILG chief Jonvic Remulla details what happened behind the scenes of Duterte’s ICC arrest
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has detailed what happened behind the scenes from before and during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s International Criminal Court arrest, denying claims that he was deprived of his rights.
Duterte was arrested upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong on Tuesday, March 11 for murder, torture, and rape—which are part of the 15 forms of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. It was in connection with his administration's bloody war on drugs called Oplan Tokhang that saw the execution of thousands of suspected drug peddlers, users, and small-time criminals.
In an interview with Bilyonaryo News, Remulla said that PNP chief General Rommel Marbil received the notice of arrest warrant at 3 a.m. on Tuesday. He then informed President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. about it, though he was only able to read it at past 6 a.m.
He recalled being ordered by Marcos to “set the wheels in motion.” According to him, they started getting ready for Duterte's arrest a day before it happened, which was also when they began hearing rumors that the ICC issued an arrest warrant against the former Chief Executive of the country.
“The president and the government had no contact with the ICC,” Remulla told journalist Pinky Webb. “It’s a fact, there is no back channel. There is none. There’s only [former] Senator Trillanes and Atty. Kristina Conti... we had no formal direct communication.”
Remulla said the whole operation was planned by him, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, NSA Secretary Eduardo Año, and Marcos.
'All courtesy given' to the Duterte family
On March 11, Remulla said that they deployed 1,500 policemen at NAIA; 2,000 in the NAIA-Villamor premises; 1,000 inside Malacañang; and 200 on standby at Veterans Hospital in case Duterte fell ill.
“We didn't want a Ninoy Aquino scenario to occur so we were very sure of the security,” he said.
The Interior Secretary said that they expected that the event would be intense, so they instructed the police to exercise maximum tolerance.
“Ine-expect ko na lalaban sila eh, na magkakagulo but they (policemen) all followed the instructions, maximum tolerance. All courtesy given (to the Duterte family),” he said. “Lahat ng accommodation na hiningi nila, binigay.”
'Can't have any loose ends'
Remulla said that they only released an official statement and purposely withheld further information from the media.
“That was deliberate. When you plan something like this, you can’t have any loose ends,” he said.
“Because there was nothing to say. We had a statement that he was in our custody, he’s in good health, what else can you say?” he added, noting that it could only spur emotions that might have complicated the operation.
“The optics would have driven the emotions of this country into different levels. They would have played it to the drama, and it would not have been good,” Remulla said, citing a photo of Duterte lying down and wearing an oxygen mask as an example.
“There was a picture of him na naka-oxygen mask, but if you look at the picture closely, hindi siya naka-attach sa oxygen tank, so you see what they’re capable of,” he continued. “There's a certain amount of flair that they have for the dramatics, and we knew that it would get inflammatory kung may media.”
The Interior Secretary assured that everything was recorded on their end using CCTVs and body cameras.
Duterte’s flight to ICC
Remulla said that they considered using Malacañang Hawker 125, but noted that it would be slow as it required eight refueling stops and would take 27 hours to reach The Hague, Netherlands. They decided to lease the Gulfstream G550, which was used by Marcos on short overseas trips, instead.
The aircraft took off from Villamor Air Base at 11:03 p.m., 12 hours since the Palace announced his arrest.
According to Remulla, they had to secure overland rights to fly over nine countries: Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Oman, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the European Union.
“Usually it takes a week to do that, we had to do it in seven hours. That’s how unprepared we were,” he said.
No deprivation of legal counsel, rights
Remulla belied claims that Duterte was deprived of legal counsel. He said that Atty. Salvador Medialdea, another person, and the former president examined the arrest.
“The (former) president read it, in Bisaya, I think you can translate, ‘Wala na, tama ‘to, totoo ‘to,’” Remulla said.
“He was not denied any rights at all. In fact, they filed in the Supreme Court and the president didn’t stop it from happening, he just let it take its course,” he added.
He added that Duterte was also not deprived of his medical needs, saying that CIDG chief Maj. Nicolas Torre asked his partner Honeylet Avanceña if he was feeling sick, what medicine he needed, and if he has any allergies, among others.
“We tried to extract information, ayaw eh. We asked all the questions, we didn’t get any answer,” Remulla recalled. “We had doctors [who] examined him, they said he was clear to fly, tinanong namin kung may sakit, ayaw sumagot. So we were at a loss kung ano talagang nangyayari.”
He also explained why the other lawyers, as well as Senator Bong Go and Vice President Sara Duterte, weren’t allowed to enter the area where Duterte was.
“It was a secured perimeter, unless they had a court order for them to enter, we would have let them come in, but there was not,” he said.
“The rights were read, warrants were shown, Atty. Medialdea was shown the copy. In fact, they took a picture, and it was the basis of, if I’m not mistaken, their petition in the Supreme Court.”
Remulla said while they understand how his family and supporters reacted to what happened, the rule of law must be upheld.
“Totoo 'yang nakakaawa kasi matanda na eh, it is hard not to feel empathy for the man, but there is also the rule of law that must be upheld—and we chose that over the empathy which was needed from us,” he said.
Duterte could be the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC. He made an initial appearance before the ICC on March 14 via videolink.
Judges would verify his identity and the language in which he would be able to follow the proceedings. He will be informed of the charges against him and of his rights under the ICC Rome Statute.
A confirmation of charges hearing will follow, during which the judges will decide whether the prosecution has presented enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
If the charges are confirmed, it could be months before the case eventually goes on trial, and years before a final judgment is rendered.
