Former president Rodrigo Duterte (PPAB)

Former president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest for charges of crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is proof that the Philippines is a country that respects the rules-based order, a lawmaker said Tuesday, March 11.

Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman says that since the Philippines upholds the rule of law, nobody in the country is above it.

"And as a nation that prides itself in respecting that rules based order around the world, wala tayong choice kung hindi mag-cooperate​ (we have no choice but to cooperate)," Roman said in a press conference.

"Nakaraan, nakipag-coorperate din naman satin ang Interpol sa paghahanap kay Alice Guo, so gano'n talaga​ (Previously, the Interpol cooperated with us in finding Alice Guo. So that's how it is)," she added.

Philippine authorities, as members of the International Police (Interpol), arrested Duterte upon his arrival from Hong Kong at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Tuesday morning. They acted on the arrest warrant issued by the ICC.

Roman believed that the House quad-committee's (quad-comm) investigation that started in August 2024 into the war on drugs helped in the international court's probe into the Duterte administration's deadly campaign.

"Marami tayong nadiskubre mga bagay bagay na nakakalungkot. Nagkaroon ng tinig yung mga biktima nitong war against drugs...ang mga pamilya ng mga biktima​ (We discovered lots of things that were really saddening. The victims and the families of victims were able to have their own voice).  And I would say that actually strengthened the case against the former presiden​t​," she said.

Despite the arrest, Roman underscored that the former president is still presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Although many extra-judicial killing (EJK) victims were themselves denied due process during Duterte's war on drugs, Roman said, the public should not do the same to the former president. "We always have to take the higher moral ground."

"If as a nation and as a government, we claim to respect the rule of law, then we should be the first ones to observe it," she said.

"Naniniwala ako na may due process. Kailangan may rule of law, igagalang din natin ito​ (I believe in the due process, that there needs to be a rule of law and we should respect it)," she added.