Author: Ellen

Can 3 high-ranking PNP officials get out of ICC ‘suspects’ list?

Ellen


What will the Philippine National Police (PNP) do with the three high-ranking officers who were named as suspects in the ongoing probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs?

The three are: Major General Romeo Caramat Jr., former chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and currently the acting area commander of Luzon; retired colonel Edilberto Leonardo, identified in the document as former commissioner of the National Police Commission (the Napolcom’s website still lists him as a commissioner); Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta, identified by the ICC as former PNP chief intelligence officer (He is currently the director of the PNP-Drug Enforcement Group.).

The three police officers were named, together with Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, in a four-page confidential document dated July 3, sent through the Philippine Embassy in The Hague and released to the media on July 25 by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the earliest complainants to the ICC against Duterte’s brutal drug war.

The document said: “Under Article 54 (1) a of the Rome Statute, the [Office of the Prosecutor) is obliged to conduct investigations which cover all the facts and evidence. This includes providing individuals under suspicion of crimes to provide their version of the events. In this context, the OTP has reasonable grounds to believe that the following retired and serving members of the Philippine National Police have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP. “

This is the first official ICC list of suspects ever reported on the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed under Duterte’s war on drugs, in which at least 20,000 persons were killed, according to human rights groups. The PNP, however, admits to only 6,000 individuals killed during police operations.
It has been almost a month since the ICC sent the document to the DFA and we can imagine that it has been delivered to the “suspects.”

The inclusion of the three active officers undermines the “new face” of the campaign against illegal drugs that Marcos touted in his second State of the Nation Address in July 2023.

He said then: “Unscrupulous law enforcers and others involved in the highly nefarious drug trade have been exposed. I will be accepting their resignations. In their stead, we will install individuals with unquestionable integrity, and who will be effective and trustworthy in handling the task of eliminating this dreaded and corrosive social curse.”
As head of the PNP’s drug enforcement group, Matta supposedly leads a different anti-illegal drugs strategy that does not include extermination of suspects.

Leonardo is still with Napolcom, which exercises “administrative control and operational supervision over the PNP, with the end in view of ensuring a highly capable, effective and credible police service”

Why is Duterte not on the list? Trillanes explained that the former president was already named when the ICC authorized prosecutor Karim Khan to proceed with the probe on Sept. 15, 2021.

The former senator further said the formal naming of the five former and current PNP officials in Duterte’s drug war probe puts them in the “blue notice” of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

Inclusion in the Interpol’s “blue notice” means that if and when the suspect travels outside the Philippines, he may be detained for questioning in connection with the ICC probe.

“They have a choice whether to cooperate or not,” Trillanes said.

Carramat, Leonardo and Matta still have that option.

There were earlier talks about Albayalde’s willingness to cooperate with the ICC but that turned out to be false. Dela Rosa, whose Facebook page showed him distributing foodstuff to victims of typhoon Carina on Thursday, shrugged off the ICC update: “”What’s new? My name was always mentioned since 2016.Seems like a broken record that keeps on repeating the same lines,” he told VERA Files by text.

As for Duterte, an arrest warrant will just be a matter of time.

This article was also carried by VERA Files

PH, China agree, disagree over breakthrough agreement

Ellen

A China Coast Guard vessel attempts to block a Philippine government vessel as the latter tries to enter the China Second Thomas Disputed Shoals (local name Ayungin Shoal) to orate Philippine troops and resupply provisions Saturday, March 29, 2014.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

President Marcos was given a standing ovation (one of the three) when he reiterated his unyielding stand on the country’s ownership of West Philippine Sea.

But even as he tried to rally people behind a common adversary which is China, he talked of finding “ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas “underscoring “proper diplomatic channels and mechanisms under the rules-based international order” to settle disputes.

Hours before the President made that declaration, Filipino and Chinese diplomats simultaneously announced the arrangement they agreed on for the rotation and resupply (RORE) to the Philippine Marines stationed at BRP Sierra Made on Ayungin shoal (international name: Second Thomas shoal and Chines name: Rén’ài Jiāo).

The three-paragraph statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs said “The Philippines and the People’s Republic of China have reached an understanding on the provisional arrangement for the resupply of daily necessities and rotation missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.”

China’s five-paragraph announcement in a question- and -answer form gave more information. It insisted on China’s sovereignty over Ren’ai Jiao and reiterated its demand for the BRP Sierra Madre to be removed from Ayungin shoal.
These are the two most significant points:

“Second, between now and when the warship is towed away, should the Philippines need to send living necessities to the personnel living on the warship, China is willing to allow it in a humanitarian spirit if the Philippines informs China in advance and after on-site verification is conducted. China will monitor the entire resupply process.

“Third, if the Philippines were to send large amount of construction materials to the warship and attempt to build fixed facilities or permanent outpost, China will absolutely not accept it and will resolutely stop it in accordance with the law and regulations to uphold China’s sovereignty and the sanctity of the DOC.”

Immediately, DFA refuted China’s statement: “The spokesperson’s statement (therefore) regarding prior notification and on-site confirmation is inaccurate. “

It added that “the agreement was concluded with the clear understanding by both sides that it will not prejudice our respective national positions.”

The test of this breakthrough agreement is in its implementation. Let’s see.

This column was carried by Malaya Business Insight, VERA Files

The looming arrest of Duterte and the 2025 elections

Ellen
The main character and three of the supporting cast in the ICC trial of Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.

The looming issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for former president Rodrigo Duterte and his accomplices in his deadly war on drugs is expected to impact tremendously in the 2025 midterm and the 2028 presidential elections.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was the first to bring Duterte’s crimes to the ICC way back in 2017, said the warrants of arrest could be served later this month or early July.

He said, according to his sources privy to the workings of the ICC, the serving of the arrest warrants will be done by batch. The former president will be the first one to be served.

The second batch would most likely include Vice President Sara Duterte and Sens. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.

The third batch would likely be the police officials who led in the implementation of Duterte’s war on drugs that claimed the lives of some 30,000. (Government figures put those who were killed during police operations at 6,000.)

There were rumors last year about a possible cooperation of former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde with the ICC, but it turned out to be false.

Duterte and those involved in the war on drugs are subject of an investigation for crimes against humanity in the Philippines covering the period from Nov. 1, 2011 (when he was Davao City mayor) to March 16, 2019 (when the Philippines withdrew from the ICC).

Trillanes said the ICC investigators have completed their collection of evidence and are now set to issue warrants of arrest to ensure the participation of the accused in the trial.

Duterte has said several times that he will not submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction, ignorantly describing the international court as composed of “white people.”

His strategy for evading the inevitable serving of an arrest warrant has become pathetic, even laughable. In the beginning, he tried to be useful to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with his loyalists Bong Go and Sen. Alan Cayetano suggesting that he be appointed special envoy to China, given his closeness to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

When that didn’t work, he resorted to putting pressure on Marcos using the objectionable Charter change issue. The public knows better. Charter change is a legitimate issue but Duterte, having advocated that previously, is not a credible rallying figure. This is best shown by the dwindling attendance in his rallies. Also, the prospect of having Sara Duterte — with her unexplained P125 million confidential fund and dismal performance as Education secretary — as president if Marcos is toppled before 2028 scares concerned citizens.

Dela Rosa is doing his own thing with his senseless investigation of the leak by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency of the president’s alleged drug use as exposed by Duterte.

In what is seen by many as a distraction to Duterte’s accountability in the bloody drug war, his son, Paolo, who is Davao City representative, has filed a resolution seeking a congressional investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country for the last 25 years.

Marcos has, so far, dangled the ICC sword, effectively confusing not only Duterte and his allies but also the public. The question on everybody’s mind: Will Marcos allow the arrest of Duterte and his accomplices by the ICC?

Trillanes said that scenario might not happen because he believes Duterte will flee to China for sanctuary. Remember, in August last year Duterte met with Xi in Beijing when he thought a warrant of arrest would be issued with the decision of the ICC to reject the Philippine government’s appeal to stop the investigation.

How about Sara? And Dela Rosa and Go, who are due for reelection in the 2025 elections?

Will the arrest, if it happens, gain them sympathy or lead to their political oblivion?

Abangan.

Why China blocks bringing of construction supplies to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal

Ellen

When former president Rodrigo Duterte agreed with Chinese President Xi Jin Ping to not repair the BRP Sierra Madre, he was, in fact, abandoning the Marines valiantly manning the rusting ship, which has become a heroic symbol of the Philippine’s resistance against the creeping invasion by China.

In an interview on ABS-CBN after another water-cannoning of the rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) vessel bound for Ayungin Shoal on March 23, Harry Roque, former spokesperson of Duterte, disclosed that the former president and Xi had “a gentleman’s agreement.”

“Ito’y oral [agreement] sa panahon ni [dating] presidente Duterte na ang parehong panig, ang Tsina’t Pilipinas, ay rerespetuhin ang status quo; ibig sabihin, kung ano ‘yung naroroon na, walang dagdag, walang bawas,” Roque said.

(It was an oral agreement during the time of [former] president Duterte in which both sides, China and the Philippines, will respect the status quo; which means, what is there, nothing will be added, nothing will be subtracted.)

Roque said he learned about the agreement in 2018, when Duterte called China’s ambassador to Malacañang after a Chinese ship sprayed water cannon on a RORE vessel bound for Ayungin Shoal. The envoy claimed that “papayagan nilang dalhan ng tubig at pagkain, hindi ang pagpapadala ng materyales for repair ng BRP Sierra Madre.”

(They will agree to the bringing of water and food, but not materials for the repair of BRP Sierra Madre.)
This is underscored in the statements of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons to justify the Chinese blocking of RORE vessels: “This Philippine resupply mission is not to send necessities, but to bring construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren’ai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement in an attempt to build a permanent outpost on China’s uninhabited reef so as to permanently and illegally occupy Ren’ai Jiao.“

Why is China violently opposing the repair of BRP Sierra Madre?

Ayungin Shoal (international name is Second Thomas Shoal; Chinese name, Rén’ài Jiāo ) is a low- tide elevation (meaning, it’s underwater during high tide) in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is 105 nautical miles from Palawan and is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. China claims it belongs to Nansha Qundao or Spratlys, which is part of its territory based on its discredited nine-dash line map.

Ayungin Shoal is doubly important to China because it is 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef (Philippine name, Panganiban Reef; Chinese name, Meiji Jiao), which China occupied in 1995 during the presidency of the late Fidel Ramos and has since developed a military base there complete with an airport.

In retaliation, the Philippine Navy, under the Estrada administration, intentionally grounded he BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
Built in 1944, the 100-meter long BRP Sierra Madre was originally a World War II vintage US Landing Ship Tank (LSTs). It saw action during the Vietnam War as USS Harnett County. In 1976, it was transferred to the Philippine Navy.

Despite its dilapidated state, BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal is a constant source of annoyance to China. Countless times, Chinese officials have told the Philippines to remove it. They would have done so themselves if not for potential politically serious consequences.

BRP Sierra Madre is Philippine territory

BRP Sierra Madre is “a commissioned Philippine naval vessel.” A country’s naval ship is considered part of its territory.
If China touches or steps on any part of BRP Sierra Madre, it would be an act of war. It has to reckon with the 1951 PH-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty which states in part, “Each party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes. “
The treaty also says, “… an armed attack on either of the parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of the parties, or on the island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean, its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Manila on March 20, reiterated the current U.S. assurance that its “iron-clad” commitment under the MDT “extends to armed attacks on the Filipino armed forces, public vessels, aircraft – including those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Nobody wants an armed clash between China and the United States in the South China Sea. That would be a catastrophe. Not even China, despite its strong warning that “if the Philippines does not change course, China will continue to take resolute steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

Hoping and waiting for the worst for BRP Sierra Madre

What China wants is for BRP Sierra Madre to decay fast and become uninhabitable. The eight Marines stationed there would be forced to abandon it. That would pave the way for China to occupy Ayungin Shoal, which is just 105 nautical miles west of Palawan.

Duterte’s agreement with China to not bring construction materials for the repair of BRP Sierra Madre supports China’s desired scenario. That was surrender.

In effect, Duterte abandoned the patriotic and courageous Marines to the mercy of China. That was abandonment of his sworn duty to protect and serve the people. It’s treason.

This column also appeared in Malaya Business Insight, VERA Files

Duterte’s attempt to use China card aborted by Chinese ships’ water-cannon act

Ellen
Pres. Ferdinand Marcos receives former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang Aug. 2.

The attempt by former president Rodrigo Duterte to use the China card to gain a prominent role in the Marcos administration and protect himself from the International Criminal Court got aborted just when his cohorts in the Senate were about to launch it.

The embarrassing thing about the flop is that it was his benefactor, China, that ruined it. That was the water cannoning by Chinese ships of the Philippine boats bringing supplies to the Marines on Ayungin Shoal.

Duterte’s plan to use the China card was manifested on July 17 when Xinhua, China’s news agency, reported the meeting of the former president with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It came on the eve of ICC’s release of its decision rejecting the petition of the Philippine government to stop the probe on the killings that constitute crime against humanity related to Duterte’s war on drugs. The investigation includes the period when he was mayor of Davao City.

Malacañang was not informed about Duterte’s trip to Beijing. Actually, a former president is a private citizen and is not required to inform Malacañang of his personal activities. But since he was meeting with an incumbent leader of another country, propriety dictates that the Office of the President be informed about it.

But then propriety has never been Duterte’s strong suit.

There were even talks that the Beijing trip was a precautionary move by Duterte to evade a possible warrant of arrest just in case ICC decides to issue it following its decision to continue the probe.

The Xinhua report said Xi praised Duterte’s “strategic choice of improving relations with China” when he was president and expressed the hope “that Duterte will continue to play an important role in the friendly cooperation between the two countries.”

Shortly after the former president’s return from Beijing, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Foreign secretary during the Duterte presidency, suggested making Duterte “the country’s special envoy to China to help reach out on a back-channel basis given his good standing with the Chinese government.”

This was immediately supported by Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who is named in one of the documents submitted to the ICC as having played a major role in the killings.

The ICC probe documents said that Go, who served as executive assistant and personal aide to then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, on several instances, was the one who relayed the latter’s orders to kill to the Davao Death Squad, which was allegedly carrying out the extrajudicial killings for the local chief executive.

On Aug. 2, Duterte, accompanied by Go and former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, went to see President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.

The report of the Presidential Communications Office on the meeting said: “Aside from discussing Duterte’s meeting with Xi, the two leaders also talked about other issues. The former president likewise gave some good pieces of advice to President Marcos.”

It was Sen. JV Ejercito who shared with ANC what Marcos told him about the meeting with Duterte. According to Ejercito, Duterte told Marcos that he told Xi, “Please be kind to my country.”

This is horrifying! Why would the Philippines seek kindness from China? We should demand respect and adherence to the rule of law, not kindness.

Such a subservient attitude towards China is not surprising from Duterte, and should disqualify him from the position of special envoy to China.

Apparently, Duterte’s appeal to Xi fell on deaf ears because on Aug. 5, the Philippine Coast Guard reported “the China Coast Guard’s (CCG’s) dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against the PCG vessels escorting the indigenous boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines” bringing supplies to the Marines in the grounded BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

The latest hostile act of Chinese ships against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea drew condemnations from several countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United States.

Since then nothing was heard from the Cayetano-Go recommended “special envoy to China.”