Palace shrugs off Imee’s Duterte bill

Metro Manila, Philippines - Malacañang has distanced itself from a bill filed by Senator Imee Marcos seeking to bar the transfer of Filipinos to foreign entities, including international courts, without the person’s consent or a court order.

Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro offered a brief reaction when asked about the measure, dubbed the “President Rodrigo Duterte Act.”

“Trabaho naman po ng isang senador na gumawa ng makabuluhan na batas para sa taumbayan, sa ikauunlad ng bansa, hindi para sa pansariling kapakanan. So, good luck po,” Castro said in a palace briefing on Thursday.

The bill seeks to prohibit what Marcos described as “extraordinary rendition” or the warrantless transfer of a person to a foreign jurisdiction not recognized under an active treaty with the Philippines.

In the explanatory note of Senate Bill 557, the senator referred to the arrest and turnover of former Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an abuse of authority that could happen again unless legislation is passed to prevent it.

“What took place on that fateful day was an extraordinary rendition—the transfer without due process of a detainee to the custody of a foreign jurisdiction,” she wrote.

A staunch Duterte ally, Marcos said any arrest to turn over a person to a foreign court without a court order is unconstitutional and should be punishable by law.

The bill wants to ban arrests or transfers to any international court or tribunal not recognized by a treaty to which the Philippines is a party. It would also prohibit law enforcement agencies from carrying out investigations or detentions on behalf of foreign courts without proper permits from the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Violators may face up to 20 years in prison.

Duterte is detained in the Netherlands and facing charges of crimes against humanity for murder before the ICC in connection with the bloody war on drugs during his presidency.