With $353-M contempt order, can Marcos Jr. travel to US as president? & More News Here

MANILA, Philippines – Presumptive Philippine president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is sure for Malacañang with a problem none of his predecessors earlier than him possessed: a standing contempt judgement issued by a United States courtroom in reference to a human rights class swimsuit towards his late dictator-father.

As head of state and chief diplomat, Marcos Jr. is anticipated to conduct state visits to totally different international locations, together with the US, the Philippines’ solely treaty ally and one among its oldest companions. But how would possibly this play out? 

Robert Swift, the American lawyer working to get well property to distribute to Martial Law victims, earlier mentioned {that a} go to from Marcos Jr. would put in movement strikes to implement the judgement, even a request for a subpoena to face the courtroom and clarify. 

Records from the United States District Court and Court of Appeals present that Marcos is being held in contempt for “contumacious conduct causing direct harm to [a class of human rights victims].” Since the contempt judgement was issued in 1995, the quantity concerned for steady contempt already reached $353 million in 2011. Marcos Jr. has been evading paying the order. 

Rappler has additionally obtained the courtroom data which confirmed that in 2019, a brand new decide prolonged the order to January 25, 2031, properly protecting the six years Marcos Jr. could be president of the Philippines. 

If Marcos Jr. is invited for a state go to or may even see the necessity to travel to the US as a head of state, what would the method be?

Securing courtroom’s permission

There are at the very least two methods Marcos Jr. can travel to the US as soon as he’s formally president of the Philippines. 

Former Philippine ambassador to the US Raul Rabe mentioned an invite to the United Nations (UN) to attend a UN-sponsored occasion may see Marcos Jr. go to, “but not beyond a certain perimeter” of New York, the place the worldwide physique’s headquarters are situated. 

Events just like the annual UN General Assembly would fall below this selection, which heads of states often attend both in particular person or just about, as has been the case lately due to the pandemic. 

A second state of affairs could be when the US authorities extends an invitation to Marcos Jr. In this case, Rabe mentioned the US State Department would want to safe the permission of the courts on the idea that Marcos Jr.’s go to is to the nationwide curiosity of the nation. 

Rabe identified, nonetheless, that this selection wouldn’t be remoted from politics. “The second opinion is full of political implications and may present difficulties for the Biden administration as well as potential embarrassment for the invitee,” Rabe instructed Rappler in an interview. 

For this purpose, any invitation would solely be prolonged if there have been assurances that Marcos Jr., as Philippine president, would have the ability to set foot within the US easily. 

“The Biden administration will of course respect the courts because of their co-equal status, but I don’t think they will extend the invitation without first checking with the court whether they will allow him to come without embarrassing him,” former Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia mentioned.

He added, “They will not extend the invitation if he is going to be arrested there and if President Biden extends the invitation it is because they are hoping to have the better relationship between the US and the Philippines.”

Immunity

In an earlier e-mail interview with Rappler, Swift mentioned Marcos Jr. gained’t robotically face an arrest order if and when he travels to the US. What a go to would do is set off strikes by attorneys like him to transfer the courtroom to implement the judgement, together with issuing a subpoena. 

If these are nonetheless ignored, they might request an arrest warrant, Swift mentioned. 

But that was the case when Marcos Jr. was nonetheless a personal citizen. Anna Patricia Saberon, a school member on the Ateneo de Naga University educating worldwide relations mentioned at as president, Marcos Jr. will take pleasure in immunity for being the top of state, a customary observe below worldwide regulation. 

Such immunity will permit him to travel to the US as chief of the Philippines, and “cases against him would fall under his personal capacity,” Saberon mentioned. 

In impact, the standing contempt order towards Marcos Jr. wouldn’t have an effect on his features as president have been a state go to to happen. 

“Under customary international law, as long as they are in that official function or position then he is acting for the benefit of the state, his actions are for the benefit of the Philippines, not for his individual (interests). So assuming he accepts the invite, he goes there because he thinks that it will benefit the Philippines as a country,” mentioned Saberon, who beforehand labored as assistant director of the United States division on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of American Affairs. 

‘Broader interests’

Any potential go to to the US that Marcos Jr. could conduct is certain to deliver controversy, contemplating the Marcos household has refused to acknowledge the widespread corruption, human rights abuses, and poverty below the decades-long Martial Law rule of its patriarch. 

Marcos Jr. and his household likewise have shared historical past with the US, which facilitated their escape to Hawaii, the place they lived in exile for 5 years. As Filipinos took to the streets to oust Marcos, the late dictator pleaded with Washington and influential Filipinos for assist – to keep in energy, or at the very least the nation longer. 

Despite this historical past, a go to by Marcos Jr. to the US as president, nonetheless, would embody the broader pursuits of strengthening the Philippine and US’ alliance. After six years below President Rodrigo Duterte – whose international coverage noticed Manila’s distancing from conventional allies just like the US – Marcos Jr. had described the Philippines’ relationship with the US as “a very important one.”

In a name with US President Joe Biden, Marcos Jr. likewise mentioned that his authorities was ready to work with the US and strengthen relations. 

“If the court says no, I think Biden will respect the decision of the court. But I’m pretty sure the court will understand that they have to look at the broader interests of the US,” Cuisia mentioned.

“I doubt whether there’s going to be any problem with regard to that because even the court may find ways of saying well this is in view of the larger interests of the US and the Philippine relationship,” he added.

In this state of affairs, Saberon mentioned the US would additionally show its recognition of democratic processes within the Philippines and Marcos Jr.’s election. 

“The cases would be suspended in a way that they won’t push it and use to say you can’t travel here or we won’t invite you for a visit. I think they will be cordial and they will try to engage the Philippines through our president,” she mentioned. – Rappler.com

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