[The Slingshot] Christmas is chilly in Den Haag

I want to greet the household of the prisoner Rodrigo Duterte a merry and significant Christmas. Regardless of the biting chilly of the Dutch winters, could his members of the family who’re with him in The Hague discover the peaceable and accepting forbearance that this can be the primary, if ever, of many Christmases they hope to spend with him within the Netherlands. 

For prisoner Duterte won’t ever be again within the Philippines ever, if we go by the jurisprudential development of the Worldwide Felony Court docket’s pre-trial  chamber 1.

Each trick within the lawyer’s e-book of Nicholas Kaufman had crashed and burned — the interim launch, the difficulty of non-jurisdiction as a result of the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, and Rodrigo Duterte not being match to face trial resulting from cognitive impairment. 

It’s straightforward to learn Kaufman’s intentions: cease the trial, safe the shopper’s launch, or delay the proceedings. 

Enter Robin Padilla with an evaluation that he thinks is rocket science and which he entitled, “Asking for Justice from the Creator.” 

Padilla: “You’re crucifying an 80-year outdated man, you denied him the home arrest that the Filipinos are demanding.” Did we? The Filipinos in my neck of the woods didn’t. Examine your neighborhood, people, in case your neighbors did.

Padilla mentioned the sanctions that limit ICC judges and prosecutors from accessing US-based banking companies, bank card corporations, and know-how platforms akin to Amazon and Uber, are a part of God’s revenge on the courtroom for denying Duterte’s freedom.  

Disclaimer: like Padilla I’m no worldwide relations professional or declare to be one like Alantroy Rogando Sasot. We don’t must be as a result of the goal of the Trump administration is simple to learn, until we come from the DDS Pretend Information Farm like they do.

The US’ ICC sanctions are NEVER about Duterte. As early as June this 12 months, Rappler had already carried out a reality verify that Duterte is just not the explanation for the US sanctions towards some ICC judges. The faux information was printed within the YouTube channel “Philippines Trending Information,” which at that interval had 526,000 subscribers.

Robin Padilla’s “justice from the Creator” is a reprise of that faux information rubbish. The unique headline was “Malaking excellent news! Sobrang napahiya ang Palasyo sa balitang ito. Lahat nataranta?” (Excellent news! The Palace was completely humiliated by this information. Everybody panicked?)

It was a typical clickbait headline that usually attracts Duterte Diehard Supporters to fall into trollist conclusion with out the necessity for verification and vetting. This was even when the video narration made the flagrant falsehood that the 4 ICC judges sanctioned by Trump have been dealing with the Duterte case.

Rappler’s June 2025 reality verify mentioned: “The US sanctions have been because of the warfare tribunal’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a previous resolution to open a case into alleged warfare crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.”

“The ICC judges sanctioned by Trump’s administration are Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibañez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.”

Alapini Gansou, one of many three  judges concerned within the Duterte pre-trial case, can be concerned within the Netanyahu case, therefore the explanation for her inclusion. Ibañez Carranza, who dominated towards the Kaufman plea for interim launch in her capability as an ICC Appeals choose, can be a part of the Netanyahu case.

Though the sanctions don’t have anything to do with the Duterte case, we are able to solely learn the minds of his household and followers of the ridiculous situation of their goals — that ultimately the ICC will fold up and therefore will ship prisoner Duterte residence.

The ICC won’t essentially be pushed to despair by the US. A non-member nation, the US is aware of that the ICC had lengthy survived with out American moolah. The tribunal’s high contributor is in reality Japan. The remainder of its high 10 contributors are Germany, France, the UK, Italy, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and Australia.  

Sweden is a significant supporter of the Belief Fund for Victims (TFV) with substantial multi-year commitments. Then there’s the highly effective European Union and all its member states that collectively contribute considerably, each immediately and thru particular applications.

Salaries as an example, don’t come from the US. Decide Ibañez, nonetheless, remits her salaries to her residence in Peru. Wherein case, the switch passes by way of monetary purposes that use US {dollars}. 

Can the ICC survive the sanctions? 

The Trump sanctions are discretionary on the president, that’s one limitation. Secondly, it is going to be selective by truly excluding US residents working within the courtroom in addition to courtroom functionaries from shut ally international locations such because the UK. Wherein case, the Philippine authorities is a detailed US ally.

JusticeInfo.internet zeroed in on the Netanyahu case for example:

“Within the present circumstances Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, is a British nationwide. The 2 fundamental people in control of the Palestine investigation, standing behind Khan in his video asserting the arrest warrants final Might, are Brenda Hollis, who’s a U.S. citizen who can’t be placed on a sanctions listing as a result of it’s just for international individuals, and Andrew Cayley from the UK.”

Khan, nonetheless, is presently on go away. Hollis and Cayley will not be. However they’re protected. Discover the selectivity.

As we write, “courtroom officers and others are working to provide you with workarounds and work out a approach to do enterprise that doesn’t contain transacting international foreign money exchanges by way of New York,” JusticeInfo avers.

Can the ICC nonetheless pay salaries?

The Financial Instances experiences that 2025 salaries have already been paid upfront. It additionally experiences that the tribunal has already began contemplating different sources for banking companies and software program. Suffice it to say that there is no such thing as a dearth of that within the EU. 

The most recent sanctions may put the US on a collision course. Underneath the Rome Statute, judges and prosecutors are elected by the ICC’s state events. The ICC insists that the rule of regulation can’t be undermined.

“When judicial actors are threatened for making use of the regulation, it’s the worldwide authorized order itself that’s positioned in danger,” the courtroom mentioned. Already, Dutch international minister David van Weel has condemned the US sanctions. 

So we count on pushbacks and diplomacy when mandatory. However general, the tribunal won’t fold up.

The Duterte case will quickly proceed to full trial standing. A 12 months from now, prisoner Duterte will nonetheless spend Christmas on the Scheveningen Detention Unit, and extra Christmases thereafter, hopefully for the sake of Philippine rule of regulation. 

Merry Christmas, prisoner Digong. Advance completely happy new 12 months, Bato dela Rosa. – Rappler.com