The Philippine Senate announced on Monday ( Mar 17 ) that it would conduct a formal investigation into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and swift handing him over last week to the International Criminal Court, which is bringing charges against him for alleged crimes against humanity.
The 79-year-old, the second Asian former head of state to be charged by the ICC, is accused of the crime against mankind of death for his years-long war against drug dealers and users, which human rights groups claim had claimed have killed tons.
Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s girl, and Vice President Sara Duterte, one of Duterte’s elder daughters, initiated the investigation.
Since Marcos and Duterte teamed up to win a disaster in 2022, the two families have experienced a magnificent falling over. The latter has since been impeached on suspicion of a charge that included an alleged assassination plot against the leader.
Imee Marcos, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called for an immediate investigation into Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s imprisonment, which he said in a statement on Monday.
She continued,” Our independence and legal procedures must be paramount, and it is crucial to establish whether owing process was followed and to ensure that his constitutional rights were not just upheld but protected.”
After a quick stop in Hong Kong, Duterte was taken into custody at Manila airport on March 11 and gone to the Netherlands shortly before, where he was then turned over to the ICC.
Major police and other government officials have been invited to give evidence at the Senate’s scheduled people hearing on Thursday.
Imee Marcos is running for re-election in the May 12 congressional elections despite having mostly independent from her brother in many areas.
Imee Marcos, who was present shortly after the arrest, questioned the wisdom of “poor president Duterte “‘s arrest, stating at a press conference that” this can only lead to trouble.”
She said on Friday,” I can’t accept what they did to ( Duterte ).”