‘We hoped for the best, but expected the worst’

MANILA, Philippines — The Partido ng Demkratiko Pilipino (PDP) yesterday said it “hoped for the best, but expected the worst” amid the decision of the appeals judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejecting the appeal on the request for interim release of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement, PDP deputy spokesman Ferdinand Topacio said the decision of the ICC was expected.

“While the (party) was quite hopeful that the ICC would see the light and consider the sentiments of the majority of the Filipino people in deciding on the appeal to release the former president, as we said during the prayer vigil which started two days ago, we hoped for the best, but expected the worst,” Topacio said.

The ICC Appeals Chamber issued in open court its unanimous decision denying the appeal lodged by Duterte’s lawyers against the earlier decision of pre-trial judges that denied his request for conditional release to another country.

The decision was read by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, who was appointed presiding judge for Duterte’s appeal on interim release.

“As the ICC continues to experience a crisis of credibility and confidence around the world for its double standards, its decidedly liberal woke orientation, demonstrable bias against Asian and African states and financial and moral scandals involving several of its key officials, it desperately needed a trophy to bolster its sagging fortunes,” Topacio added.

The defense team raised three grounds in its appeal: that the pre-trial judges erroneously found that the former president poses a risk, that it erred in its rejection of the guarantees proposed by the state willing to receive him and that it failed to take into account humanitarian considerations in assessing the right to interim release.

But the five-member Appeals Chamber, which is composed of a different set of judges, said the defense failed to identify errors in the assailed decision.

“It has decided that Duterte will be its whipping boy, aided and abetted by the present weak and compliant Philippine government itself in need of something to divert attention away from massive corruption scandals and systemic failure of governance. Thus, the expected result from a confluence of ineptness from a discredited international body and an effete Philippine government,” Topacio added.

Duterte was not present at the hearing and was represented by his counsel Nicholas Kaufman.

The former president has been detained at the ICC Detention Center within the Dutch prison complex in Scheveningen, located in the outskirts of The Hague, since his surrender to the international tribunal on March 12 for crimes against humanity.

Padilla, Go disappointed

Senators Robin Padilla and Bong Go expressed their disappointment at the ICC appeals chamber’s latest decision.

Padilla showed his dismay at the appellate’s ruling in an interview at the sidelines of the Senate’s plenary deliberations on Friday on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

It was in the middle of Senate plenary debate when the chamber’s decision was read out in a livestreamed session at around 6 p.m. Friday.

Padilla said he stepped out of the Senate deliberations just to watch the ICC hearing with a heavy heart.

“I was sad, of course,” he said in Filipino. “When the judge started reading the merits, I told my lawyer, ‘That’s it.’”

For his part, Go – who is Duterte’s longtime aide as mayor and later president – issued a statement, saying he respects the ICC decision, but with “utmost sadness.”

He also called on Duterte’s supporters to rally behind the former president and pray for his health.

“We respect the decision and trust the whole process... Let us continue showing support for FPRRD (former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte) in ways that uphold peace and respect,” Go said.

The senator was mentioned in the documents submitted before the ICC for allegedly knowing about the Davao Death Squad when Duterte was mayor, as earlier reported by the VERA Files, a non-stock, non-profit media organization.

Go was also tagged by the House of Representatives quad committee in the alleged reward system to the police for every kill, an allegation he denied.

Reporters as of Friday sought reactions from other members of the so-called “Duterte bloc” in the Senate – namely Senators Ronald Dela Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta and Imee Marcos – but they have not issued any statement.

Dela Rosa faces a possible arrest warrant by the ICC, after he was named in the course of the investigation as a key figure in the alleged state-sanctioned killings of poor drug pushers and users as the former chief of the Philippine National Police and Duterte’s right hand man.

The senator has not been seen since rumors swirled of an ICC arrest warrant, even skipping the Senate plenary budget deliberations and missing out on his duty to defend the budgets of key security agencies as chair of the Senate national defense and security and public order committees.

Dela Rosa has said he will hide from authorities in the face of “injustice.”

‘Painful reality’

Pwersa ng Pilipinong Pandagat (PPP) party-list Rep. Harold Duterte, a nephew of the former president, said yesterday that their family, friends and their party-list are saddened by the “painful reality” that the former president will remain in the ICC detention facility.

Congressman Duterte said the PPP stands firmly with the former president.

“We are saddened by this painful reality, and yet we remain hopeful. We draw strength from every Filipino who refuses to forget and who continue to stand with Tatay Digong during this most difficult chapter,” he said in a statement.

“The Pwersa ng Pilipinong Pandagat stands firmly behind Tatay Digong and the entire Duterte family. We remain unwavering in our hope and in our prayers that justice will prevail and that better days are ahead for all Filipinos,” he said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Jose Rodel Clapano