March 18, 2025 (EIRNS)—Herman “Mentong” Laurel, a close friend of the LaRouche movement, writing in his Asian Century Journal today from Manila, reports that the abduction of former President Rodrigo Duterte by the ICC, with the full complicity of President Bongbong Marcos, has set off a firestorm across the Philippines and in countries where the expatriate Philippine community is also protesting.
Mentong writes: “The majority of Filipinos are totally enraged at the treachery of Bongbong Marcos for springing the malignant ICC (International Criminal Court) trap on former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, brazenly welcoming the violation of the nation’s sovereignty and dignity, displaying before countless cameras the gross violation of due process and the rights of President Duterte, his family and his aides, and the manhandling of his lawyers.”
He adds: “The ICC does not have international credibility anyway, and worse, [is] seen as a Kangaroo court by many. In 2017 the African Union threatened mass withdrawal and several countries did indeed leave. The many countries that value sovereignty and national dignity refuse to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, such as China, the U.S., Russia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Türkiye, as well as smaller countries like Cuba, Bahamas, Chile, Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Surinam, Qatar, South Africa and Burundi.”
