The lady senator further questioned why the police general released the former executive secretary by removing the handcuffs. Very clearly to any layman, removing the handcuffs while the subject person is under control could not be considered as releasing the person from custody. The line of questions which was supported by senators Ronald “Bato” Marapon dela Rosa and Robinhood Ferdinand “Robin” Cariño Padilla, mainly that the former and now detained president is too old to be in prison are not convincing.
Senator de la Rosa had the temerity to question police general Nicolas Deloso Torre III if it did not cross his mind that what he is doing is illegal as it violated the constitution, particularly the bill of rights. The police general held his ground that what he did was within the ambit of the law and he did everything in the presence of the police director general and the counsel from the justice department. It was his discretion to perform his task in accordance with the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
The police general further explained that his actions were within the ambit of the law, citing the principle of force continuum which is a linear-progressive decision-making process, displaying police responses commensurate with a suspect’s resistance level to ensure compliance, arrest, and other law enforcement actions, while upholding human rights and maintaining professional conduct. At the time of the arrest, there was actual obstruction by the former executive secretary which obstruction was repelled when the police officers handcuffed the former executive secretary, who being a lawyer, submitted and cooperated with the arresting team.
The lawyer from the justice department in the person of General State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Donayre Fadullon explained that the police officers under Police General Nicolas Deloso Torre III actually followed the standards in arresting a suspect by requesting first the cooperation of the former executive secretary, giving them enough time to cooperated with the arresting team. It was only when the obstruction to the arrest remained that the police officers that the former executive secretary was handcuffed.
As repeatedly discussed by the resource persons, chiefly by the justice secretary that the Philippines as a state may not be bound by the International Criminal Court but individuals are. Even the opinion of retired Associate Justice Adolfo Sevilla Azcuna that the International Humanitarian Law are applicable during wartime as well as peacetime. The ICC exercised its complementary jurisdiction based on its findings that the Philippine government failed to genuinely prosecute the former and now detained president. Despite all the explanation, the lady senator who chairs the senate foreign relations committee insists on her unconvinced confusion, an indication exposing daftness.
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