Phl gov't probes Rody

Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seems to be something akin to panic and dismay in some quarters over the news that the Philippine government has finally launched an investigation of Rodrigo Duterte for possible crimes against humanitarian law.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

This is despite the well-known animosity between the Dutertes and the current ruling Marcos-Romualdez clan, which could make it likely that domestic prosecution would actually result in a finding of guilt that warrants stiff punishment.

The panic and dismay seem to spring from the fear that the Philippine probe, launched by the Department of Justice, will trigger the principle of complementarity and keep Duterte and his minions outside the reach of the International Criminal Court.

Under this principle, the ICC may exercise jurisdiction over a case only when a country's legal system fails to do so, when it is shown that legal authorities are unable or unwilling to conduct a credible probe.

Articles 17 and 53 of the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, provides that the court cannot take on a case that is currently under investigation by a country with jurisdiction over it.

Duterte has taunted the ICC to come and get him, but his original statements on the issue seem to be his genuine stand: that he would never submit himself to the jurisdiction of a foreign court.

So shouldn't we be glad that a domestic investigation is underway, not only for individual extrajudicial killings, but for possible crimes against humanity carried out in the name of law enforcement?

We know what's fueling public dismay and skepticism: trust deficit.

It's the lack of trust in the integrity and efficiency of the judiciary, which is supervised by the Supreme Court, and of the prosecution service, which is under the executive branch.