MANILA: The Philippine Senate said Monday it will conduct a formal probe of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and swift handover last week to the International Criminal Court, which is to try him for alleged crimes against humanity.
The 79-year-old, the first Asian former head of state charged by the ICC, stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups have said killed thousands.
The probe was initiated by Senator Imee Marcos, sister of President Ferdinand Marcos but a close friend of Duterte’s eldest daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
The two families have had a spectacular falling out since Marcos teamed with Duterte to win an election landslide in 2022. The latter has since been impeached on charges that include an alleged assassination plot against the president.
“As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I am calling for an urgent investigation into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, an issue that has deeply divided the nation,” Imee Marcos said in a statement Monday.
“It is imperative to establish whether due process was followed and to ensure that his legal rights were not just upheld but protected,” she said, adding: “Our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount.”
Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on March 11 after a brief trip to Hong Kong and flown to the Netherlands just hours later where he was turned over to the ICC.
The Senate has set a public hearing for Thursday and invited top police and other government officials to give evidence.
Imee Marcos has tracked a course largely independent from her brother on many issues, though she is running for re-election under the administration’s ticket in the May 12 midterm elections.
Hours after Duterte’s arrest, Imee Marcos warned at a news conference that it could “only lead to trouble.”
Separately, a veteran international lawyer with ICC experience has been tapped to join the former president’s defense team.
Nicholas Kaufman, a British-Israeli national, has previously represented clients at The Hague including former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Aisha Qaddafi, daughter of the deceased Libyan dictator.
“The president (has) already appointed Nicholas Kaufman as his lawyer,” Vice President Duterte confirmed at a press briefing outside the Hague, according to a transcript made public Sunday by her office.
“We had a meeting with him yesterday, and then we will have a meeting in person when he arrives this weekend,” she told reporters after her father’s Friday appearance.
In an email to AFP, Kaufman said he was “honored to have been asked to assist former President Duterte in composing his defense team in which my future role is yet to be precisely determined.”
“Indeed, I look forward to denouncing the State-sponsored abduction of the former President to a case in The Hague devoid of jurisdiction.”
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Philippine Senate launching probe of Duterte’s ICC arrest
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Philippine Senate launching probe of Duterte’s ICC arrest
- The probe was initiated by Senator Imee Marcos, sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
- Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on March 11 and flown to the Netherlands just hours later
India contains Nipah virus outbreak, some Asian countries tighten health screenings
- Two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested
- Earlier Nipah outbreaks were reported in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, recent cases found in southern Kerala state
NEW DELHI: Indian authorities said they had contained a Nipah virus outbreak after confirming two cases in the eastern state of West Bengal, as several Asian countries tightened health screenings and airport surveillance for travelers arriving from India.
India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.
“The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place,” the ministry said.
Nipah, a zoonotic virus first identified during a 1990s outbreak in Malaysia, spreads through fruit bats, pigs and human-to-human contact. There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause raging fevers, convulsions and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep patients comfortable.
The virus has an estimated fatality rate of between 40 percent and 75 percent, according to the WHO, making it far more deadly than the coronavirus.
There were no reported cases of the virus outside India, but several Asian countries introduced or reinforced screening measures at airports as a precaution. The safety measures were put in place after early media reports from India suggested a surge in cases, but health authorities said those figures were “speculative and incorrect.”
Indonesia and Thailand increased screening at major airports, with health declarations, temperature checks and visual monitoring for arriving passengers. Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said thermal scanners had been installed at arrival gates for direct flights from West Bengal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Myanmar’s Health Ministry advised against nonessential travel to West Bengal and urged travelers to seek immediate medical care if symptoms develop within 14 days of travel. It said fever surveillance introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic at airports has been intensified for passengers arriving from India, with laboratory testing capacity and medical supplies readied.
Vietnam’s Health Ministry on Tuesday urged strict food safety practices and directed local authorities to increase monitoring at border crossings, health facilities and communities, according to state media.
China said it was strengthening disease prevention measures in border areas. State media reported that health authorities had begun risk assessments and enhanced training for medical staff, while increasing monitoring and testing capabilities.
Earlier Nipah outbreaks were reported in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, while recent cases have largely been detected in southern Kerala state. A major outbreak in 2018 killed at least 17 people in Kerala.
India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.
“The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place,” the ministry said.
Nipah, a zoonotic virus first identified during a 1990s outbreak in Malaysia, spreads through fruit bats, pigs and human-to-human contact. There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause raging fevers, convulsions and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep patients comfortable.
The virus has an estimated fatality rate of between 40 percent and 75 percent, according to the WHO, making it far more deadly than the coronavirus.
There were no reported cases of the virus outside India, but several Asian countries introduced or reinforced screening measures at airports as a precaution. The safety measures were put in place after early media reports from India suggested a surge in cases, but health authorities said those figures were “speculative and incorrect.”
Indonesia and Thailand increased screening at major airports, with health declarations, temperature checks and visual monitoring for arriving passengers. Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said thermal scanners had been installed at arrival gates for direct flights from West Bengal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Myanmar’s Health Ministry advised against nonessential travel to West Bengal and urged travelers to seek immediate medical care if symptoms develop within 14 days of travel. It said fever surveillance introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic at airports has been intensified for passengers arriving from India, with laboratory testing capacity and medical supplies readied.
Vietnam’s Health Ministry on Tuesday urged strict food safety practices and directed local authorities to increase monitoring at border crossings, health facilities and communities, according to state media.
China said it was strengthening disease prevention measures in border areas. State media reported that health authorities had begun risk assessments and enhanced training for medical staff, while increasing monitoring and testing capabilities.
Earlier Nipah outbreaks were reported in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, while recent cases have largely been detected in southern Kerala state. A major outbreak in 2018 killed at least 17 people in Kerala.
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