By Jun Avelino
The Duterte Arrest: A short vacay for Digong in The Hague but a step towards the downfall of PBBM Administration
Upon learning of the ICC warrant of arrest, PRRD could have sought refuge in China and President Xi Jin Ping would have surely welcomed him with open arms. But he decided to come home and calmly faced his arresting officers at the airport led by the administration’s mad dog from the PNP, General Nick Torre. Albeit already in an advanced age and with frail health (could hardly walk), Digong (for brevity) chose once again to risk his life and limb if only, his arrest would trigger something for the betterment of his country which is now saddled with rampant corruption, abuses by those in power and oppression of ordinary citizens.
In the course of his arrest, Digong has masterfully exposed the ills of the PBBM Administration for which the Filipinos must do something about.
First, he exposed how Marcos has bastardized the PNP as an organization, thereby using it as his political tool in brutally maiming his nemesis. The demeanor of Torre, says it all, especially when he threatened to physically assault Duterte, a 79-year old man, and an ex-President at that, in forcing him to get to the chartered plane against his will. We saw teary eyed arresting police officers who must have realized how unjust it is for the PNP to arrest a man who took care of their institution during his incumbency, fought for them to the hilt, doubled their salary and other benefits so their families can live a decent life while serving the country which the current administration never cared about.
The ironic of it all is the fact that the crimes against humanity which Digong is being charged for and necessitated his arrest by the ICC were committed by the PNP elements themselves in carrying out his bloody drug war. And to shield the PNP as an institution and the officers involved in saving our country from becoming a narco state, Digong publicly admitted that the buck stops right with him and therefore, he alone should suffer for the consequences of the drug war, thereby absolving the PNP from being implicated. Such public admission has been used as one of the basis for his incarceration at the ICC. For the men and women in uniform, isn’t it heartbreaking for the public to see how the very person who protected the PNP even at the twilight zone of his days, could be subjected with such inhumane level of disrespect and harassment by one of your own - Police General Nicolas Torre? Shame!
Second, Digong has cemented the narrative on Marcos’ blind subservience to the dictate of foreign entities. The US President has imposed sanctions on ICC people for issuing a warrant of arrest against its ally, Netanyahu of Israel and for trying to investigate Americans for allegedly committing crimes against humanity abroad. He mocked and ridiculed ICC as a useless institution and warn them from ever investigating Americans on their soil as such is an affront to America’s sovereignty which President Donald Trump is willing to defend to the hilt at all cost.
Paradoxically however, our country’s President, PBBM, happily announced to the disgusted Filipino public that his government has arrested our country’s former President in compliance with the Warrant of Arrest issued by the ICC. In fact, the arrest was done within hours after its issuance just to show how excited he is to slurp the ugly ass of the ICC prosecutor, in blatant disregard to the basic rights of Digong, a Filipino citizen and a former President, under our own laws. The ICC people must have been baffled at how quick PBBM in turning over to The Hague his own compatriot for trial even using an expensive chartered flight paid for in millions of pesos by Filipino taxes just so Digong can rot in the ICC prison cell. ICC folks must have wished ‘Sana lahat ng Presidente sa mga bansang may kaso sa ICC ay kasing TANGA ng Presidente ng Pilipinas’.
Such Presidential idiotic miscalculation has placed our country in a precarious situation where our independence is now the subject of global ridicule. By sending Digong to the Hague to please the ICC which the US, our main country ally, has despised and sanctioned, the PBBM government has mocked our country’s sovereignty and has therefore lost his moral ascendancy to even talk about it, much less with China in relation to the issue of the West Philippine Sea. Shame!
As Digong is now settled in The Hague for a brief reprieve, the nightmares of PBBM has started unfolding with the insurmountable backlash he is now facing as consequential ramifications on his contemptuous machinations against Digong.
We now see prayer rallies in various parts of the country condemning PBBM for his actions. And as the anti-PBBM sentiment momentum increases, contrary to the belief that these can’t be sustained, these prayer rallies will soon transform into organized mass demonstrations calling for PBBM’s resignation. Then with the help of religious groups like INC, KOJC and other aggrupation of whatever denomination or ideological persuasion either sympathetic to Duterte or just disgusted by the perceived corrupt PBBM government, a massive nationwide mobilization against the government, with Manila as the center, is no longer a remote possibility - this time even bigger than what happened in EDSA in 1986.
What will fuel further to the public anger is the obvious inability of the PBBM administration in appropriately responding to corruption related legal battles it is now facing before the Supreme Court. The impending SC decision enjoining the administration to return the PhilHealth fund will be derogatory to its credibility as it creates an impression that it has been caught red handed in trying to steal public money dedicated to the people’s health. And once the deliberation on the blank pages of the bicam report of the 2025 budget commences on April 1, thereby assailing the constitutionality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the anomalies in the budget processes favoring PBBM allies will be exposed to the public eye which will be fatal to the administration.
With the SC taking the cudgel for the public on the matter of GAA anomalies, questions on the dubious use of the unprogrammed funds, the Romualdez-pet ayuda initiative worth billions, the bloated budget of the DPWH flood controls, the questionable reduction on the budget of education and defense, etc, will be placed under the scrutiny of the public eye and hence, will become serious issues against PBBM that will further erode whatever level of public trust left of him.
Of course, the Duterte arrest issue and the corruption and scandals hounding PBBM will definitely have impact on the upcoming elections. Any bets identified with the administration at the national and local levels will be rejected by those who sympathized with the Dutertes and such will eventually give birth to the anti-administration candidates machinery, campaigning rigorously against PBBM bets. We can then expect to see Senatorial candidates changing standings on the survey rank owing to the anti PBBM sentiments. And any post-Duterte-arrests elections surveys will bear this out and the downward trend will continue, particularly on the public diminution of support for the administration candidates.
The worst scenario for PBBM to face is the post-May 2025 elections, assuming he can reach that far without being removed by force. The House of Representatives will be manned by different caliber of people, and so with the Senate which is expected to have new few ones and returnees. He can only pray that his ass-slurping congressmen will get reelected to keep the HOR as his rubber stamp and continue the plunder of our country’s coffers.
But political opportunism is deeply rooted in the culture among Congressmen and Senators. They always think of long-term survival, self-preservation and perpetuation into power for as long as allowed by law – well, maybe to serve better for a few. Given the damaged reputation of PBBM and the notorious image of Romualdez as the main architect of the scandalous GAA heists for the last 3 years and who never have the chance of becoming elected as President in the 2028 Presidential elections based on reputable survey results, shifting of alliances in HOR is expected to happen and a new force will emerge which is likely throwing its support to VP Sara Duterte, the most favored candidate to be the next President.
Once power is snatched in HOR and Romualdez’ tyranny is finally abbreviated, PBBM impeachment is next and the rest will be history. But again, assuming that PBBM can reach this far without being removed from office by force.
Meanwhile, the SC has directed the government to respond within the non-extendible 24 hours (starting yesterday) from responding why the petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by the Duterte siblings for the release of former President should not be issued. This is aside from the petition for injunction with prayer for TRO filed by Senator Bato for which the government is also directed to answer within the non-extendible 10 days. These are on top of the series of petitions filed in relation to the impeachment proceedings against VP Sara for which the government is also directed by the SC to respond.
While the Solicitor General is tasked to answer for all the legal mess created by the administration which may eventually exhaust them, the President will have to work hard in weighing everything to give the right direction which may render him exhausted too for long hours of work. But PBBM does not have to worry. His PNP Chief, Gen. Marbil once justified the use of meth by those workers who used it to extend their level of efficiency in their work for long hours, and hence, they should be treated as victims too. Why not give meth a try Mr. President? For a change of what you used to!
What PBBM and his ilk failed to realize is the fact the ICC is a neutral ground. Anti Duterte forces have been in cahoots with a bias ICC prosecutor who has been fed with anti-Duterte information in relation to his bloody drug war. The warrant of arrest was issued on the basis of a one-sided information because we never participated in the proceedings on the first place. But while Digong’s lawyers continue to question ICC’s jurisdiction over him given the complementarity issue and other legal defenses, the fact remains that Digong is being charged with crimes against humanity for his bloody drug war. But isn’t it a fact that Digong waged such war to prevent the drug lords, pushers and addicts from victimizing and destroying our country’s humanity? That his drug war has prevented our country from becoming a narco state which gained global adulation to say the least.
Once this truthful narrative reaches the halls of ICC, it will be a game changer. European judges appreciate evidence objectively and they do not wish to be caught in domestic political wranglings in the countries involved. In the Duterte case, among the complainants is Trillanes whose political hatred for Duterte is beyond measure… Atty. Conti who is working with the ICC prosecutor in locking Duterte up is identified with the left groups which Duterte has single handedly almost annihilated during his term of office for crimes against the Filipino people. PBBM immediately arrested Duterte and turned him over to ICC which is unusual for all the countries they have worked with and of course knowing that Duterte is a threat to PBBM’s political survival. And ICC must have realized now the support for Duterte by Filipinos on his drug war given the current and expanding anticipated mass mobilizations condemning his arrests.
All told, the above factors smell domestic politics being at play which ICC refrains from being dragged upon given the criticism on its neutrality. And this has been exacerbated by the ICC cohort from the Philippines, Atty Conti, who threatened that the trial of Digong can last for 8 years and ergo, he may die in The Hague prison before his case will be finished. Certainly, given such devilish intent of keeping Digong suffer and die while in detention, the ICC judges must have seen the demonism that envelopes Atty. Conti’s inner being on account of her hatred for Duterte which demands appropriate exorcism, if not sodomism for her eternal satisfaction and repose.
In terms of time frame, and given the battery of lawyers, volunteers and support for Digong at the Hague, the legal battle he is facing will be over hopefully after the May 2025 elections. That should be sufficient time for the old man to enjoy the hospitality of The Hague and as an institution as a whole.
The worst scenario which PBBM will be facing is when Digong comes home in a coffin due to age while incarceration – God forbid. In that scenario, PBBM can only wish that he is still capable as a man and in power, to at least, personally excavate the remains of his father from the Libingan ng mga Bayani to give way for Duterte’s remains - and with the help of his family, carry the skeleton of the most hated dictator whom Duterte once helped redeem his name but betrayed by his own son, to eternal damnation in Ilocos, where the Human Development Index (HDI) is almost Southern Europe, where it rightly belongs to be perpetually condemned in history.
And this should serve as lessons to Marcos siblings, particularly Zandro Marcos, who may be given the chance in the future to once again clear the condemned Marcos family name. For all the future Marcos demonic political machinations, Kitty Duterte shall be your worst nightmare as she has shown in defending his Dad from the Marcos treachery!
(Please share if you want – Jun Avelino)
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