​Former Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares on Friday, March 28, challenged Senator Imee Marcos on her Senate Foreign Affairs Committee's findings that the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) violated the ex-president's rights.

Colmenares, a human rights lawyer, argued Duterte's turnover to the ICC was rightful and legal as the presidential sister, a known Duterte's ally, reckoned that the Philippines had no legal obligation to surrender the former leader to foreign body.

He said the country still has obligations "since we agreed that the ICC has the power to issue a warrant and serve it in the Philippines under Article 127 and Part 9 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, when we signed the treaty in 2011".

"Article 127(2)states that the withdrawal of a state party 'shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective," Colmenares said.

Any state, even if it has withdrawn from the treaty, is bound to cooperate from the moment they signed the Rome Statute, he said.

"Article 89 grants the ICC the power to request for the arrest and surrender of a person...to any State on the territory of which that person may be found and shall request the cooperation of that State in the arrest and surrender of such a person," he said.

And even if, presumingly, the Philippines has no obligation to surrender Duterte to the ICC, it is still the discretion of President Marcos whether to cooperate or not, Colmenares said. 

And apparently, the President made a decision to hand over his predecessor, he added.

Colmenares also said the government has the duty and power to surrender Duterte under Section 17 of Republic Act No. 9851, which states that "In the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities may dispense with the investigation or prosecution of a crime punishable under this Act if another court or international tribunal is already conducting the investigation or undertaking the prosecution of such crime."

Duterte is charged at the ICC with crimes against humanity for his administration's alleged extra-judicial killings (EJKs) during his bloody war on drugs. As such, he may be surrendered by the Philippines "in the interest of justice," said the ex-ex-congressman.

“The assertion of Sen. Marcos that there was no warrant of arrest or that Duterte was not allowed counsel is untrue. A warrant of arrest has been validly issued by the ICC and Pres. Duterte has Atty. Salvador Medialdea when arrested.  His retaining of Medialdea as counsel in the first ICC hearing only proves that he was actually his counsel of choice," he said.

“It is clear that Pres. Marcos personally decided to cooperate with the ICC, and Sen. Marcos’ assertion that the Philippines has no obligation to cooperate with the ICC is now irrelevant because even if this were true, any state, whether a member or not, can still cooperate with the ICC in its discretion—even without a red notice from Interpol," he added.