What Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th did in Europe

Just to refresh our memories, Trillanes arrived in Europe on December 12. Travelling with him were his chief of staff and assistants, an entourage of four people in total. He

- ment of Anthropology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, which was attended by students and faculty, notably Professor Rosanne Rutten, a distinguished scholar of the Philippine Left.

Trillanes spoke for over an hour. He answered questions on President Duterte’s anti- drug war, extrajudicial killings, intimidation of the media, and the innumerable threats and insults he has leveled against critics and women. Duterte’s level of brutality, Trillanes argued, is historically unprecedented.

The following day, at a small café in a picturesque part of Leiden, Trillanes had a convivial brunch with professors David Henley, Henk Schulte- Nordholt and selected students of Leiden University. The senator, who ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, was here given the rare chance to speak about his social welfare advocacies. He highlighted his concern for public housing for the urban poor, especially those who live in garbage compounds and in dangerous areas, such as near

Trillanes as someone with a head for the intricacies of policy details.

The problem, he said, did not have a single policy solution. “It needs to be looked at holistically, from the whole

- ing jobs to education and health care. The focus should be the development of rural areas,” he thought. “Stop

Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th speaking at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London in December.

Champa Patel, former Amnesty International voluntarily help the investigation so director of Southeast Asia that Mr. Duterte and company would be made accountable. There is also the recourse to impeachment.”

And was the President bent on instituting martial law throughout the country? Trillanes thought that any pretext could be used to declare nationwide martial law, including and especially the ongoing communist insurgency. Under those circumstances, he predicted, and expressing his faith in the professionalism of the country’s soldiers whom he regarded as the ‘last bastion of democracy,’ “the military would follow Duterte’s orders but would stop short should he order the closure of the Senate and Congress.”

Shifting the conversation to thoughts on the future, Patel enquired program at Chatham House, received Trillanes. Referring to the war on drugs and the alleged violations, she asked, “What are your thoughts on the possibilities of accountability or justice?”

“The great last recourse right now,” Trillanes reflected, “would be the ICC. I believe once the ICC would commence its formal investigation and issue a warrant of arrest for Mr. Duterte, I believe his whole administration would collapse. Being a paranoid man, [Duterte], I believe, is

to Beijing and seek asylum. Once that happens, the succeeding president, Vice President Leni Robredo, would