MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 8 May) – In an effort to gain the sympathy of pro-Duterte voters, reelectionist Senator Imee Marcos held a committee hearing on the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte based on a warrant from the International Criminal Court and his surrender to The Hague, Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity of murder linked to his bloody “war on drugs.” The hearing led to the filing of criminal and administrative complaints against several national officials before the Ombudsman by the Senate foreign relations committee chaired by Ms. Marcos. The senator may have improved her chances at the polls with that charade, but isn’t she culpable of legislative overreach when she said those officers were guilty of violating Mr. Duterte’s rights and made the Senate the complainant in filing those complaints against them? Is it among the functions of the Senate as an institution, or any of its committees, to file criminal and administrative cases? Whatever happened to separation of powers? Why did the Ombudsman entertain the complaint? It could not just be a coincidence that the current Ombudsman, Samuel Martires, is a Duterte appointee. Ms. Marcos may also have stepped on the toes of the Supreme Court, which denied the Duterte camp’s petition for a temporary restraining order and writ of prohibition, saying no right was violated. What legal basis can she invoke when the highest court of the land itself saw no reason to stop the arrest and surrender? So, why are those officials charged when the Supreme Court itself did not stop the arrest, saying “the petitioners failed to establish a clear and unmistakable right for the immediate issuance of a TRO?” Besides, the tribunal has yet to rule on the habeas corpus petition for Duterte. Ms. Marcos and the senators who supported her view further made the Senate a laughing stock by bringing up the issue of jurisdiction during the hearing. For that is an issue that can only be settled before the ICC since Duterte is now in its custody. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at [email protected])
