Those who have been to school with Worstall, T (OK, OK, very different year but….) are not those you want as political enemies:
The charges brought against the former leader are the culmination of years of work by activists, lawyers and victims, who documented abuses committed under his government, often at great personal risk. But Duterte arguably would not have been surrendered to The Hague if it weren’t for his family’s dramatic feud with that of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the current president.
The two families were once allies. Marcos Jr ran on a joint ticket with Duterte’s eldest daughter – Sara Duterte, now the vice-president – in the 2022 election, winning a landslide victory. At the time, Marcos Jr, who capitalised on the popularity of the Duterte name, was careful not to criticise Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, and promised not to cooperate with the international criminal court’s continuing investigation.
But the Duterte-Marcos marriage of convenience descended into a bitter dispute, with Sara Duterte launching scathing attacks on the president, even threatening to dig up the remains of his late father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr, and throw them into the sea.
Bongbong for the win. So far at least.
The ICC is a monstrous institution, we should get rid of it. The world doesn’t need peevish nonce lawyers relitigating other countries’ elections because they don’t like the cut of the winner’s jib.
Instead, release beautiful African hunting cats in the Hague to crunch on their weak, lawyerly spines. Get them, Bitey!
Let me know when this is planned. I’ve a cousin who’s a translator there…..
Don’t worry, Tim. I’ve been practicing training my cat to only attack lawyers and TV Licensing inspectors.
If it works for Princess Fluffybottom, I’m confident it’ll work for Simba. But if it doesn’t, it’s been a pleasure.
Lady Chromatistes had the misfortune to teach Bong Bong’s son Ferdinand at a well-known Benedictine establishment in West Sussex. He was, by a country mile, the most obnoxious pupil of her career.
I was in the junior school there when he was in the senior….
The Marcos I was referring to is now aged around 30, and a Senator. I weep for the Filipinos.
Aha! So, the subsequent generation then. El Presidente also went to the same place……