Who's to blame for the 'failure of justice' system?

Retired Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Antonio Carpio had an interesting introspection about our country's criminal justice system. This was in relation to the Philippine government's "cooperation" with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in the "surrender" to them of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Carpio shared it in a personal message sent to me last March 17, a few days after ex-president Duterte was flown to The Hague, Netherlands last March 11.

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

It is a fitting rejoinder to my piece last Monday when I declared in my opening spiel that our government had virtually entrusted the Philippine justice system to fly Mr. Duterte to be tried at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC). The Interpol's "diffusion request" brought Mr. Duterte to face the ICC complaints of alleged "crimes against humanity" filed there against him.

As the law enforcement arm of the ICC, the Interpol coursed the "diffusion request" through the Philippine Transnational Crime Center (PTCC). An inter-agency body under the Office of the President, the PTCC remains an active member of the Interpol even if the Philippines has effectively withdrawn since March 2019 from the Rome Statute that created the ICC.

Thus, the "surrender" of Mr. Duterte enabled the ICC to take custody and jurisdiction on his person. He was named in 43 complaints of alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during his deadly all-out war against illegal drugs while he was president and as former Davao City mayor.

ICC presiding judge Iulia Motoc set on Sept. 23 this year the next stage of the process: a hearing to confirm the charges against ex-president Duterte. In that stage of the ICC hearing, a suspect can challenge the prosecutor's evidence. Only after that will the ICC decide whether to press ahead with a trial.

Past cases that went through at the ICC reportedly took at least two years up to eight years at the most. Turning 80 years old this Friday, Mr. Duterte will celebrate his birthday while staying at the medical center inside the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen.