Link to Article: https://www.foxnews.com/world/ex-philippine-president-duterte-shrugs-off-possible-arrest-icc-drug-war-during-trip-hong-kong
The former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, made an unannounced visit to Hong Kong Sunday March 9th. Possible questions arose suspecting he was evading a potential arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over is extrajudicial killings amid war on drugs while he was in office.
In his speech, Duterte addressed reports about the ICC possibly issuing a warrant for his arrest, reiterating previous comments that he was prepared to be jailed if his arrest is ordered.
“If that’s my fate, that’s fine. I will accept it. We can’t do anything if I’m arrested or imprisoned,” he said in front of a crowd of Filipino supporters (Fox News).
Duterte, during his tie in office, threatened to kill any and all suspected drug dealers and prosecuted a journalist for coverage that scrutinized the governments killings. The ICC has been investigating the mass numbers of killing by gunmen and police under his presidency. While the Former president is denying all accusations of the extrajudicial killings, he also asked in his speech at Hong Kong, “What is my sin? I did everything in my time, so Filipinos can have a little peace and tranquility.”
Many Filipino officials have different opinions on Duterte’s visit to Hong Kong, some saying he is to return Tuesday, March 11 while others state he may extend his visit. If the ICC put a warrant out for his arrest, all Philippine authorities are to cooperate.
Interestingly, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 causing many activists to argue that he was attempting to evade accountability for all of the killings under his presidency. However, the ICC will still maintain jurisdiction over all activity that occurred while a country was a member.
The Philippines has a history of being a transit hub for international drug syndicates. This enabled drug gangs and dealers to reside within the country to distribute drugs across the state. The drug syndicates and gangs also dealt with illegal drug trade which is ultimately the reason for Duterte’s “war on drugs”. This will Challenge the brutal tactics the the former president used to tackle the drug crisis and will disable it from occurring again in the future. Hopefully for the country’s health, the drug dealing will forever abandon the country in fear of a ruler who is willing to do the same as Duterte.
This relates to the class in terms of security. Duterte saw the illegal drug activity has a national security issue and set a plan to “solve” the problem, not rendering the consequences that would find him. The United States of America currently has, due to an executive order signed in January, a border crisis due to the massive flow of illegal immigrants and drug flow through the border. So the current administration, while some feel it’s cruel, are deporting criminals and illegals to protect the country. There is some similarity in the circumstances but Duterte supposedly killed many people.