By Artchil B. Fernandez
The incarceration of former president Rodrigo Duterte in a Dutch prison complex in Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands, exposed the double standard of the Dutertes and their supporters. It also highlighted their hypocrisy and sense of entitlement.
The arrest and detention of the Duterte patriarch is totally unexpected. It was a huge blow to the Dutertes and the Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS). They were absolutely caught unprepared and are still in a state of shock by the unexpected turn of events. Their anger and frustration over the imprisonment say it all.
On March 9, 2025, the elder Duterte was at his usual best in Hong Kong. In an expletive-laden speech, he blasted the International Criminal Court (ICC) before a crowd of supporters at the Southorn Stadium. Five days later, a trite and humbled Rodrigo Duterte appeared before a panel of three judges at the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC to confirm his identity. The court scene was surreal.
Infuriated DDS vent their sentiments in rallies and on social media with the backing and encouragement of the Dutertes. They cried foul over the arrest and detention of their “Tatay Digong.” It was a kidnapping, not an arrest. The human rights of their cult-god were violated, and due process was not observed in his apprehension. The sovereignty of the Philippines was infringed and violated by the detention of their idol.
It is incredulous for the Dutertes and the DDS to invoke human rights, due process, and sovereignty in the capture and imprisonment of the elder Duterte. During the reign of Rodrigo Duterte, human rights, due process, and sovereignty were the first casualties of his brutal and corrupt rule. These three concepts did not exist in the universe of the Dutertes and the DDS.
Rodrigo Duterte was allergic to human rights and due process. He considered them hindrances—major stumbling blocks in the implementation of the flagship program of his administration: the war against illegal drugs. He disparaged human rights and due process, and it was the norm of his administration to disregard them. “I don’t care about human rights, believe me,” he boasted.
Now, the Dutertes and the DDS are invoking human rights and due process to protest the arrest and detention of the Duterte patriarch. Their double standard and hypocrisy are sickening. Suddenly, they became human rights advocates after spending years spitting on human rights.
What about the thousands (6,252 – official police figure; 30,000 – estimates of human rights groups) who perished in the bloody and gory war on drugs? Their human rights were trampled upon and disregarded. They were never afforded due process. They were slaughtered like animals. The Duterte administration never treated the victims as human beings. Yet the DDS are now pleading for humane treatment of their “Tatay.”
Rodrigo Duterte is lucky. His basic human rights were observed in his arrest and detention. These rights are: presumption of innocence; proof beyond reasonable doubt; right to a fair trial; and right to counsel. He denied these rights—which he now enjoys—to the suspected drug addicts/pushers who were mercilessly butchered in his drug war.
During his arrest, Rodrigo Duterte was informed of the charges against him, was read his rights, and a cabal of lawyers was with him. In contrast, those killed in his war on drugs were shot to death instantly—including teenagers and children. If Rodrigo Duterte deserves due process as well as the respect of his human rights, why are the victims of his drug war not entitled to them?
The question of sovereignty is also raised by the Dutertes and the DDS in the imprisonment of Rodrigo Duterte. Philippine sovereignty was violated with his arrest, they contend. In an instant, they turned into defenders of the country’s sovereignty.
It is laughable how the Dutertes and the DDS suddenly value the sovereignty of the Philippines. While China stole Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea and denied Filipino fishermen the right to fish in Philippine waters, they were silent, acting as if sovereignty did not exist in their vocabulary. China mocked and violated Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea, and they never said a word of protest. They invoke sovereignty only when it is convenient for them. The same goes for human rights and due process. Their double standard and hypocrisy are outrageous.
Rodrigo Duterte himself considered the country’s sovereignty non-existent in the territorial dispute. He sneered at the victory of the country in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which upheld Philippine sovereignty over the disputed waters, as “mere scrap of paper.” Yet he and his supporters are now invoking sovereignty to protest his arrest and as an argument for his release from detention.
Philippine sovereignty was never infringed in the arrest and detention of Rodrigo Duterte. When the Philippines ratified the Rome Statute, it agreed to abide by its terms and conditions. Acceptance of the ICC treaty by the Philippines was an exercise of its sovereignty. The Supreme Court already ruled that withdrawal from the ICC does not discharge the country from obligations incurred as a member. Furthermore, the High Court ruled that “liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs is not nullified or negated” by the country’s withdrawal. Sovereignty, therefore, is never an issue in the imprisonment of Rodrigo Duterte.
Human rights and due process are for all—not only for entitled individuals like Rodrigo Duterte. Philippine sovereignty must be defended and upheld at all times, not only when serving selfish interests. These are hard and bitter lessons the Dutertes and the DDS are learning. They are having a dose of their own vile medicine.
