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Tag: Rodrigo Duterte

  • Ex-Philippine president arrested on ICC warrant for crimes against humanity

    Ex-Philippine president arrested on ICC warrant for crimes against humanity

    Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested yesterday on a warrant from the International Criminal Court accusing him of crimes against humanity over deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office, the Philippine government said.

    Duterte was taken into custody at the Manila international airport after arriving from Hong Kong with his family, becoming the first former Asian leader to be arrested by the global court. He was later driven to the nearby Villamor Air Base. It was unclear where he would be taken next by authorities.

    Clad in a dark jacket, an irate Duterte protested his arrest after arrival and asked authorities the legal basis of his being taken into custody. His lawyers immediately asked the Supreme Court in Manila to block any attempt to transport him out of the Philippines to be handed over to the ICC in Europe.

     “Show to me now the legal basis for my being here,” Duterte asked authorities in remarks captured on video by his daughter, Veronica Duterte, who posted it on social media. “You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.

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    The surprise arrest sparked a commotion at the airport, where lawyers and aides of Duterte loudly protested that they, along with a doctor and lawyers, were prevented from coming close to him after he was taken into police custody. “This is a violation of his constitutional right,” Sen. Bong Go, a close Duterte ally, told reporters.

    The ICC has been investigating mass killings in crackdowns overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president. Estimates of the death toll of the crackdown under Duterte as president vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

  • Court orders arrest of senator after 2010 amnesty voided

    A Philippine court issued an arrest warrant against an opposition senator on Tuesday, almost a month after President Rodrigo Duterte revoked an amnesty granted to him in 2010.

    Senator Antonio Trillanes was ordered arrested for rebellion for leading a coup attempt in 2007 against former President Gloria Arroyo, a crime for which he was granted amnesty by ex-President Benigno Aquino.

    Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati City Regional Trial Court said Trillanes was allowed to post bail of more than 3,770 dollars for his temporary liberty.

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    Trillanes has been key critic of Duterte and has repeatedly slammed the 73-year-old president for his policies, including a deadly campaign against illegal drugs.

    On Aug. 31, Duterte signed a proclamation voiding the 2010 amnesty to Trillanes, saying the senator “did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify.’’

  • Duterte dares Philippines military to launch coup against him

    President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Tuesday, dared military officers, allegedly disgruntled over his order to revoke an amnesty granted to an opposition senator, to launch a coup against him.

    Duterte said he was not afraid of coup rumours, which have been circulating since he voided the amnesty of Antonio Trillanes and ordered the senator’s prosecution for failed coup attempts in 2003 and 2007 against former president Gloria Arroyo.

    “You don’t have to force me,” he said in a televised conversation with presidential legal adviser, Salvador Panelo.

    “I am challenging you now. I’m tired of threats. Do it now. Don’t wait any longer. If you will launch a coup d’etat, then launch a coup d’etat now,” he added.

    Duterte said he has also received information that if a coup attempt would not succeed, he would instead be assassinated.

    Read Also: Philippine: Duterte’s martial law declaration upheld by Supreme Court

    “I would be happy to die in your hands. At least I don’t die from an illness. What is a bullet?

    “The pain will not last longer than one second,’’ he said.

    The challenge came as the Supreme Court denied Trillanes’ petition to stop Duterte’s order revoking the amnesty granted to him in 2010 by former president Benigno Aquino.

    Duterte signed a proclamation on Aug. 31 voiding the amnesty, saying Trillanes “did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify.”

    The Supreme Court noted on Tuesday that there was “no extreme and urgent necessity for the court to issue an injunctive relief,” after Duterte stressed that the senator will not be arrested without a warrant.

    Maria Guerra, a spokeswoman for the high tribunal, said “there is no extreme and urgent necessity for the court to issue an injunctive relief considering that the respondents have acknowledged Senator Trillanes’ right to due process.’’

    The opposition politician asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against Duterte’s proclamation.

    He has been holed up in the Senate building since last week to avoid arrest.

    Traditionally, a Philippine lawmaker cannot be arrested while inside congressional buildings as a sign of respect for the co-equal branch of government.

  • Filipinos criticise Duterte for kissing woman on her lips

    Filipinos on Monday criticised President Rodrigo Duterte for kissing a woman on the lips during a meeting with the Filipino community in Seoul during an official visit to South Korea.

    Duterte gave out a copy of a book on alleged corruption in the Catholic Church in the Philippines to the crowd on Sunday, saying a woman should get it because he wanted a kiss in exchange.

    “No men, the price for this is a kiss,” he said, while calling out to a woman in white from the cheering crowd, “Are you ready to kiss?”

    Two women went up the stage, and Duterte told them to share the book.

    The 73-year-old president gave one of the woman a peck on the cheek, but signaled to the other woman that he wanted a kiss on the lips.

    “Are you single? You’re not separated? But can you tell him that this is just a joke?,”

    Duterte was heard telling the woman before kissing her on the lips and embracing her after.

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    While the crowd at the meeting cheered and laughed, other Filipinos took to social media to criticise Duterte’s act.

    The kiss was described as “disgusting,” “gross” and “cringe-worthy.”

    Former solicitor general Florin Hilbay said the act was something that should not be emulated, adding, “This is that path that normalizes misogyny.”

    Opposition Congressman Gary Alejano also lamented what happened, saying, “The measure of a true man is not how he abuses women but how he respects their rights and person.”

    The woman, who is married to a South Korean and has two children, said there was no malice in the kiss, which was meant “to entertain and excite the audience.”

    Gabriela, a women’s political party, said it was unfortunate that the woman had to defend the “disgusting theatrics”
    of Duterte, who felt “entitled to demean, humiliate or disrespect women according to his whim.”

    “Such acts of President Duterte are only intended to divert the people from the real and pressing issues of the
    country,” the party said.

    “His repeated acts of machismo is meant as entertainment to hide the reality of his rapidly slipping popularity.”

    Duterte has in the past been accused of making sexist, misogynistic and disrespectful comments against women, including making rape jokes, questioning their integrity and even telling soldiers to shoot female “rebels’ vaginas”.

  • ‘Shoot me’ if I become a dictator: Philippines leader tells troops

    ‘Shoot me’ if I become a dictator: Philippines leader tells troops

    President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Monday instructed the army and police to shoot him if he became a dictator and stayed on beyond his term, a scenario his foes are warning against, amid moves by his loyalists to change the constitution.

    The firebrand leader sought to dispel speculation he had ordered loyalists in Congress to change the constitution to introduce a federal system that would let him stay in power beyond 2022, when his single term ends.

    “If I overstay and wanted to become a dictator, shoot me, I am not joking,” Duterte told soldiers during an army base visit, adding that security forces should not allow anybody to mess with the constitution.

     “It is your job to protect the constitution and to protect the people. Remember, it is your solemn duty.”

    Duterte has advocated federalism to tackle inequality, empower provinces and recognize the country’s diverse makeup.

    Read Also: Philippines president sacks official over “excessive” travels

    On Thursday, Philippines lower house allies voted to convene a constituent assembly to revise the charter by May this year, scrapping mid-term elections next year and extending the terms of all elected officials.

    Constitutional reform has been a divisive issue, with critics accusing lawmakers of trying to prolong their stay in office, or of seeking a way for the hugely popular Duterte to cling to power beyond the end of his term.

    Opponents warn it could lead to a repeat of the oppressive rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, saying they are troubled by Duterte’s admiration for Marcos and his similar authoritarian traits.

    Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, has repeatedly said the president has no desire to stay longer than his term and, if anything, would prefer to retire earlier.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Philippines president sacks official over “excessive” travels

    Philippines president sacks official over “excessive” travels

    President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday sacked a ranking Philippines government official for making excessive foreign travels mostly at government expense, a government spokesman said.

    Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque told  a news conference in Davao City in the southern Philippines that  Duterte sacked Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) administrator Marcial Amaro for frequent foreign travels with government mostly footing the bill.

    Amaro was appointed by the president to the post in July 2016.

    According to the government documents, he made 18 official foreign travels in 2017 and six in 2016, equalling an average of four foreign trips every quarter.

    Meanwhile, the Association of MARINA Employees accused Amaro of impropriety.

    The employees sent a letter to Duterte in December detailing Amaro’s foreign trips in 2017, forcing him to look into the employees’ complaint.

    Roque said that all Amaro’s trips, except for one, are official.

    “The point of the president is we must be selective on the trips that we will undertake and that definitely 24 travels are excessive,’’ he stressed.

    He said that only three of Amaro’s trips were sponsored trips and the rest were paid by the government.

    “The president has decided, therefore, to terminate his services,’’ Roque said.

    Report says Amaro is the third government official that Duterte terminated for going on junkets.

    On December 12, Duterte dismissed Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chair Terry Ridon for making seven trips abroad in 15 months.

    After about a week, Duterte asked the president of the Development Academy of the Philippine Elba Cruz to leave her post for the reason of “excessive” trips abroad.

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    Duterte issued a memo on Wednesday imposing stricter rules on official foreign travels in a bid to curb “extravagant and lavish” trips abroad by government officials and employees.

    Roque reiterated Duterte’s order, saying that government officials and employees can only make the trip if it is related to the functions of the government.

    “It must not be too pricey, it must not be too costly and the benefits to the country of the trip must be substantial,’’ he said.

    (Xinhua/NAN)

  • UN rebukes Burundi, Philippines president over threats

    UN rebukes Burundi, Philippines president over threats

    The UN human rights office on Tuesday condemned attacks and threats made against its investigators by senior Burundian officials and by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

    “On Nov 9, Duterte threatened to slap UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard if she investigates him for alleged extrajudicial killings,” human rights spokesman Rupert Covlille said.

    In April 2016, the ICC announced it had launched a “preliminary examination” of the situation in Burundi, at the time more than 430 people had reportedly been killed.

    This ongoing step, which under ICC procedures determines whether a full investigation should take place, focuses on “killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances that have been allegedly committed since April 2015.”

    In October 2016, President Pierre Nkurunziza signed legislation calling for Burundi’s withdrawal from the ICC, notification of which was later that month sent to the UN secretary-general.

    Under the Rome Statute, actual withdrawal takes place a year after such notification.

    The Burundian government rejected the commission and did not allow members to visit the country.

    Interviews were conducted in neighbouring countries, to where hundreds of thousands of Burundians have fled since 2015.

    On Sept. 1, Burundi’s parliament announced it would set up its own commission, made up of 12 lawmakers, to look into the UN commission’s findings.

    Speaking to overseas Filipino workers in Vietnam, Duterte railed, “I will slap her in front of you. Why? Because you are insulting me.

    “Why? Because you yourself do not believe in the research of your own organisation.”

    The Philippines leader’s new beef with the French UN official is that she supposedly brought in an expert who

    supposedly said on television that drugs are harmless.

    Duterte did not name this “doctor” but identified them as “itim (black).”

    NAN

  • Philippine: Duterte’s martial law declaration upheld by Supreme Court

    Philippine: Duterte’s martial law declaration upheld by Supreme Court

    The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law over the southern region of Mindanao, where government forces are battling Islamic militants.

    According to Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te, 11 justices of the 15-member high tribunal voted to dismiss petitions that challenged the martial law declaration.

    “Three justices voted to partially grant the petitions, which alleged that Duterte’s declaration had no factual basis, while one voted in favour of the petitions,’’ Te said.

    Te, however, could not give any further information on the reasons given by the 11 justices for upholding the martial law declaration and the suspension of the writ of `habeas corpus’.

    Duterte declared martial law over Mindanao on May 23 when hundreds of militants attacked Marawi City, 800 kilometres south of Manila, after government forces tried to arrest a local leader of the Islamic State terrorist group.

    More than 460 people have been killed in the battle in Marawi City, while over 300,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes in the municipality and nearby towns.

  • Obama scraps meeting with Philippine leader after ‘whore’ jibe

    United States President, Barack Obama, has cancelled a meeting with controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had earlier called him a “son of a whore.”

    Mr. Duterte was responding to the U.S president’s promise to raise the issue of drug-related extra-judicial killings in the Philippines at their meeting.

    The Filipino leader is known for his colourful language, though this time it has had a diplomatic impact, the BBC reports.

    Mr. Duterte has now said he regrets the remark.

    “While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret that it came across as a personal attack on the U.S president,” the BBC quoted the Filipino leader’s office as saying in a statement.

    Both Presidents are among leaders gathering for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos.

    Mr. Duterte has been forced to apologise for offensive comments before, but this is the first time he has had to confront the reality of his outlandish behaviour on the international stage

    It is the President’s first overseas trip – an opportunity that many leaders would have used to cement ties with neighbouring countries and superpowers like China and the U.S.

    Instead Mr. Duterte has had to spend his first day here saying “Sorry” on a global platform.

  • Philippines leader to return funds stolen by internet fraudsters

    Philippines leader to return funds stolen by internet fraudsters

    Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, has given a commitment that the 81 million dollars stolen by cyber criminals from the account of Bangladesh Bank in New York and funnelled through bank accounts in Manila would be returned.

    John Gomes, Bangladesh Ambassador disclosed on Friday in Manila that the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, has given his commitment.

    He said that a Bangladesh central bank team visiting Manila to recover the money said that they were getting close to getting back 15 million dollars of the loot frozen by the Philippines.

    Gomes said that the cyber criminals tried to steal nearly 1 billion dollars from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February, and succeeded in transferring 81 million dollars to four accounts at Manila’s Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCB.PS).

    The ambassador said that investigation revealed that money was then laundered through the city’s casinos.

    “Only about 18 million dollars including 2.7 million dollars frozen by the Philippines’ casino regulator, has been accounted for.

    Gomes said that the Philippines’ Department of Justice (DoJ) has asked the Bangladesh Bank delegation to file a legal document staking its claim to the 15 million dollars.

    “We are very hopeful that we will get the total $81 million dollars.

    He added that Bangladesh’s finance minister might come to the Philippines to meet Duterte to help in the recovery of the money.

    Gomes said the bank felt RCBC should be held responsible because it did not follow a stop-payment request from Bangladesh Bank, and its lawyer Ajmalul Hossain said it would sue RCBC if it was not able to recover the entire 81 million dollars.

    Meanwhile, Ricardo Paras III, Chief state Counsel of the Philippines DoJ, said that he has already drafted court documents to begin recovery of the 15 million dollars.

    He, however, stressed that it was important for Bangladesh to prove it is their money.

    The Bangladeshi delegation said that they have prepared an affidavit citing a letter by the New York Fed to the Philippines’ central bank, in which the Fed said the money was stolen from Bangladesh Bank’s account.

    They said that the affidavit would be given to the DoJ.