The arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, quickly followed by his being brought to the Hague in the Netherlands where he will be tried for crimes against humanity, is the biggest news of the week, if not the year.
The biggest surprise probably came from nobody thinking that the man who had built a reputation as a macho tough guy would go down without a fight. Unable even to play the hide and seek game that his spiritual adviser, Apollo Quiboloy, took the Philippine National Police on, Duterte was somehow caught unaware at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a commercial flight from Hong Kong. The cops that arrested him, based on the International Criminal Court warrant, simply met him at the aircraft and whisked him away to the nearby Villamor Airbase before he could sneak away to fortress Davao or his supporters could do anything dramatic.
If Duterte was going to be arrested, the general assumption was that there was going to be a grand showdown in Davao, where his family rules the roost. Thousands of policemen were going to have to go up against a crowd of supporters that would’ve gathered to protect their idol, there would be threats and negotiations with lots of cursing and soundbites of course. Because after all, he was a tough guy, nicknamed “The Punisher”, who had declared he would outright slap anyone who dared arrest him or even investigate him.
Instead, he was escorted away with barely a whimper, all because he allowed himself to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He must’ve known the ICC warrant was coming, and wasn’t that why he was supposedly in Hong Kong, probably trying to get asylum. Did he think he had enough time to avoid it? Or that he could still quickly slip away to Davao, where he holds the home court advantage? Whatever his or his adviser’s calculations were, they were totally outmaneuvered.
Aside from stripping him of his tough guy persona, the arrest at NAIA also exposed his lack of planning and foresight, which was already a side plot during his presidency but has become a major theme ever since his empire crumbled so quickly as soon as he lost his grip on power that seemed so absolute at its peak. Aside from the threats and bluster, it didn’t seem that he had any long term plans for anything, staying in power, or even simply staying a free man. If you come to think of it, he was just basically winging it, going by feel, playing by ear, which is all fine when you are in power but pretty disadvantageous if you are up against a more organized and cerebral foe.
That is most disappointing because there was a time when we thought that Duterte was a master schemer and manipulator who was playing 5D chess while we were all playing checkers. It turns out he is just a loud, obnoxious, and totally average checkers player, whose power, antics, and reputation allowed him to simply rage quit and flip the board when he was losing back then, and has now been arrested for crimes against humanity.
Another disadvantage for Duterte is that his trial will be at the Hague, where nobody appreciates or even understands his old man Bisaya humor, where his record as a lawyer and family name have no bearing, and where nobody is afraid of the tough guy act. The culture shock for both sides of the trial should be an interesting facet.
Nobody honestly expected Rodrigo Duterte to be arrested in the Philippines for crimes against humanity. Even if the vaunted UniTeam had disbanded, wasn’t he supposed to have bought himself immunity when he allowed Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, at least while the Jr. was president, right?
How quickly the tables have turned and the backs stabbed. His daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, the other half of the UniTeam, being the estranged running mate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has already been impeached for the sort of improper fund use that Filipino politicos can turn a blind eye to whenever it serves their interests. With these developments, the other members of the Duterte political dynasty should be wary as well, especially if they have been as reckless as their patriarch in covering their tracks as far as any sniff of impropriety is concerned, because obviously, the gloves are off and the knives are out.
Even without the ICC, the powers that be in this country have shown a unique ability to persecute any politico they decide to target. If during Duterte’s time he and his minions who have now switched sides put Senator Leila de Lima behind bars on bogus charges and fabricated evidence, what more can they do for those who have been reckless with so-called confidential funds and other forms of otherwise sanctioned corruption. We all know that they all know how the system works and how to take down those who are careless in covering their tracks. So as they sing about Santa during Christmas time: You better watch out!*
