00:00Mga kababayan, on March 11, 2025, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was forcibly taken by
00:13the Philippine National Police upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
00:19He was brought to Villamor Air Base, a military airbase, detained for nearly 12 hours, and
00:26then flown out of the country on a private jet to The Hague, all allegedly because of
00:32a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
00:36This was patently an illegal arrest.
00:39This constitutes extraordinary rendition.
00:43A Filipino citizen, a former president, was taken into custody without a valid warrant
00:50issued by a Philippine court, without due process, and without any legal basis under
00:57our laws.
00:59The Constitution is clear.
01:01Section 2, Article 3 of our Constitution explicitly states,
01:06The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against
01:12unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature or for any purpose shall be inviolable,
01:18and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to
01:23be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the
01:29complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be
01:35searched and the persons or things to be seized.
01:39This means that for an arrest to be lawful, it must be carried out pursuant to a warrant
01:45issued by a Filipino judge of a Philippine court.
01:49Nasaan po ang warrant of arrest na inisyo ng hukuman ng Pilipinas?
01:56Wala.
01:57Without a valid warrant from a Philippine court, this was, at best, a warrantless arrest.
02:04Under the rules of court, warrantless arrests are only permitted in three instances, in
02:09flagrante directo, hot pursuit, and escaped prisoner.
02:14None of these circumstances applied to the case of the former President.
02:21So what was the legal basis of his arrest?
02:25The authorities acted solely on an ICC warrant, a document that has no legal effect in the
02:31Philippines unless reviewed and validated by a Philippine court.
02:36In fact, even assuming without conceding that the government itself wished to recognize
02:41and enforce the ICC's warrant, it still violated the Rome Statute itself.
02:46Even by ICC standards, the former President should have been brought before a Philippine
02:51judge to determine the validity of his arrest before he was handed over to a foreign court.
02:59Under Article 59 of the Rome Statute, a state party which has received a request for arrest
03:04and surrender shall immediately take steps to arrest the person in question in accordance
03:09with its laws and the provisions of Part IX and shall bring that person before the
03:16competent judicial authority in that state.
03:19Yan ang sinasasabi ko paulit-ulit nung nasa labas ako ng gate ng Villamor Air Base.
03:27And why was this not done?
03:29If they claim to abide by international law and standards, then why did they conveniently
03:33choose to ignore this provision?
03:37The fact remains that we are no longer a state party to the Rome Statute, we are no
03:41longer a member of the ICC.
03:44In fact, in a letter dated December 15, 2023, the President himself wrote, with respect
03:56to our concerns, legal or otherwise, on the investigation to be conducted by the International
04:02Criminal Court into the previous administration's war on drugs, I remain steadfast in my response
04:07that the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Republic of the Philippines after the effectivity
04:14of its withdrawal therefrom is very much in question.
04:19To this end, this government will not assist the ICC in any way, shape or form.
04:26So if the government itself has declared non-cooperation with the ICC, why did the PNP violate this
04:34very policy and enforce a foreign warrant?
04:38Even granting for the sake of argument that we have some duty to cooperate with either
04:42the ICC or Interpol, does that duty override the fundamental rights of every Filipino enshrined
04:49in our Constitution?
04:52What happened on March 11, 2025 is not just about one man.
04:58It is about all of us.
05:00It is about the country.
05:02If a former President can be taken without due process, what stops them from doing the
05:06same to any other Filipino?
05:08Therefore, we must dare to ask more questions.
05:12Under whose authority did the PNP act?
05:15Why didn't it enforce a foreign warrant without a Philippine court order?
05:20Why didn't they at least bring PRRD before a judge, as required by the Rome Statute itself?
05:28Even more disturbing is the silence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
05:34Why did the AFP stand idly by while a former Commander-in-Chief was taken from a military
05:40base under questionable circumstances?
05:44How could they allow a foreign tribunal to override on our constitutional guarantees?
05:52We have now lost a former President.
05:55I pray that we do not lose the country next.
06:01Your Honor, Senators Cayetano and Marcos, and other Senators present, alam naman natin
06:09lahat at alam nila na mali ang ginaginawa nila.
06:19Ginaginawa nila yun just to demolish political opponents.
06:27This is all about politics.
06:30The administration is using government resources, the ICC, to demolish the opposition.
06:36Wala na tayong argument, mali ang ginawa.
06:43Ang tanong ngayon, ano ang gagawin natin para maibalik ang dating Pangulo sa Pilipinas?
06:50Kasi nag-iisa ako ngayon dito na gumagawa ng paraan para maibalik ang ating dating Pangulo
06:59sa ating bayan.
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