The Philippines has its own Constitution, its own courts, and its own laws that cover exactly the kind of crimes being talked about in the Dela Rosa case. So why is a Filipino senator being taken to a court in the Hague Netherlands? This post breaks it down in plain language: what the Philippine Constitution actually says about outside courts having power over Filipino citizens, why the ICC was never supposed to be the first stop for justice, how the collapse of the Marcos and Duterte alliance changed the political picture entirely, and why the law most people think proves the ICC’s case actually does the opposite. No legal background needed. And if you want the full deep dive with complete legal citations and academic analysis, the FULL scholarly paper that is the basis for the entire seven part blogpost is available for download at the end of this post.
The Sotto Gambit Meets Reality: What Yesterday’s Senate Leadership Change Means for the Theory
Five days ago, the Sotto Gambit launched: a political theory months in the making, published as a seven-part blog series with a full accompanying policy paper. Plan A proposed a constitutional reset anchored on Sara Duterte’s Senate conviction and Vicente Sotto III’s appointment as Vice President. Yesterday, Sotto was ousted as Senate President by a 13-9 vote, Alan Peter Cayetano took his place, and the Senate math made Sara’s acquittal virtually certain. This addendum does not hide from those developments. It accounts for them directly, honestly, and without spin. Here is what changed, what did not, and where the theory goes from here.