Chiz orders review of subpoena to be issued vs. 2 officials in Duterte arrest probe

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Thursday said he has referred to the Senate legal department the subpoenas requested by the Senate foreign relations committee to be issued against a Philippine Air Force official and a prosecutor invited in the probe into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

At the Kapihan sa Senado, Escudero revealed he signed the subpoena that Senator Imee Marcos, committee chairperson, has requested against Lt. Gen. Arthur Cordura from the PAF and Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon from the National Prosecution Service. 

“Imbes sa OSAA (Office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms namin pinadala o pinadala ng Secretary General, pinadala ‘yung aking subpoena sa legal ng Senado para pag-aralan 'yung epekto nung pag invoke ng executive privilege kaugnay sa mga subpoena [na] napirmahan ko,” Escudero said. 

(Instead of referring it to the OSAA, the subpoenas were referred to the legal department of the Senate to study the effect of invoking executive privilege in relation to the subpoenas that I signed.)

He noted that there are two Supreme Court decisions that upheld the power of the Executive Department to invoke executive privilege, not only in answering certain questions, but also in their attendance to congressional investigations. 

“Ang huling gusto kong mangyari sa gitna at sa kabila ng napakarami nang kaguluhan sa ating bansa ay dagdagan pa ito sa pamamagitan ng isang constitutional crisis kaugnay ng subpoena sa kabilang banda at invocation ng executive privilege sa isang banda,” the Senate president said. 

(The last thing that I want to happen amid the chaos in our country is to add fuel to the fire by staging a constitutional crisis through the subpoena that we will issue and the invocation of executive privilege on the other end.)

The Senate foreign relations committee continued the investigation on Thursday. 

No Cabinet officials were present in the hearing, as previously relayed to the Senate by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in a letter to Senator Marcos.

The senator earlier said the arrest of Duterte on March 11, on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, violated the rights of the former president.

Both the Palace and opposition figures, however, defended the arrest as an enforcement of the law.

They particularly cited Section 17 of Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law states that: ''In the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities may dispense with the investigation or prosecution of a crime punishable under this Act if another court or international tribunal is already conducting the investigation or undertaking the prosecution of such crime. Instead, the authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties.

Duterte was flown to The Hague after his arrest and was placed in detention at the Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison on March 13 (PH time). He faced the ICC via video link the following day, where the court read to him the charges against him related to the killings under his administration's war on drugs. 

The confirmation of charges has been set for September 23, 2025.—AOL, GMA Integrated News