The Philippine National Police (PNP) went to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Monday, March 10, with no less than its chief, General Romel Marbil, overseeing the preparations for the scheduled arrival from Hong Kong of former president Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, March 11.
A high-level source informed Rappler that the local police were at the NAIA for Duterte’s arrival on Tuesday. Photo of Marbil at the airport was shared to Rappler by the source. This is amid a supposed arrest warrant against the former president from the International Criminal Court.
Duterte’s flight details from Hong Kong were announced on Facebook by his former spokesperson, Harry Roque.
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It is not part of the PNP’s mandate to welcome a former president flying home from another country.
No one in the Marcos government has categorically confirmed the existence of a warrant, but Malacañang said it was ready for any eventuality, a position the PNP echoed.
“Dadaan tayo sa proseso. Kung meron pong hihingin po na tulong ‘yong ating Interpol… the PNP has a legal obligation to reciprocate ‘yong courtesy na ibinibigay po sa atin ng Interpol (We will go through the process. If the Interpol would ask for assistance, the PNP has a legal obligation to reciprocate the courtesy the Interpol has given us),” PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo told reporters.
Fajardo added that the local police was still uncertain as to the exact process of serving a warrant of this nature. “Any unit of the PNP can affect the arrest warrant, if in case there will be one. But again, since this is a warrant issued by a foreign jurisdiction, then we have to to study po ano po yung magiging proseso (what the process will be),” said Fajardo.
While the Philippines had withdrawn its membership from the ICC under the Duterte regime, it is a member country of the Interpol.
The ICC has, in past cases, asked the Interpol to issue a Red Notice against its suspects. The Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, but it alerts member countries like the Philippines that the subject is wanted.
Fajardo said the Interpol will first activate the notice from its headquarters in France, which will then send the alert to local law enforcement agencies such as the PNP.
Justice department spokesperson Mico Clavano said the Interpol’s National Central Bureau in the Philippines works not only with the PNP but also with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The PNP is under Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, while BI and NBI are under his brother, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
“I think the previous briefer that we have given to the President on the pros and cons of each action, whether to respect the request of the ICC through the Interpol or not, is something that we already briefed the president on. It is up to him to interpret that and to decide which is best for our country,” Clavano said.
Hong Kong is recognized by much of the international community as a special administrative region (SAR) of China. China is an Interpol member country, and one of its sub-bureaus is in Hong Kong. Theoretically, the Hong Kong police can also affect the warrant.
Duterte had flown to Hong Kong to speak at a campaign rally attended by overseas Filipinos and call for support for his senatorial bets in the May elections. The former president’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, was also present in the Hong Kong event.
While in Hong Kong, Duterte said he was ready for a possible arrest.
“Assuming it’s (warrant) true, why did I do it? For myself? For my family? For you and your children, and for our nation,” Duterte said, defending his drug war that killed nearly 30,000 people, based on human rights groups’ tally. – Rappler.com