Tatay Digong can Learn from the Netherlands

From Davao to Malacanang by the Pasig River in Manila, back to Davao, Tatay Digong, as his adoring loyal followers call the former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte (FPRRD), notorious with his monicker “The Punisher” is now in the Hague, the seat of government of the Netherlands, at an ICC Detention Center to await a long drawn legal battle to face murder and crimes against humanity in his deadly War against Drugs during his term.

On March 11, the International Police served him a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC), a global tribunal that prosecutes individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. They arrested him at the Manila International Airport after he arrived with his family from Hong Kong to join a political gathering.

He has arrived in one of the world’s top 10 countries with the best justice system, the Netherlands, where incarceration is almost non-existent. He may be shocked that criminality in his new environment is at an unprecedented low. Old and empty prisons are converted or repurposed into schools, hotels, housing,  or other socially relevant facilities like hospitals because they have no use for them anymore. Digong would be shocked to know that there are fewer prison cells now in the Netherlands, not because the prisoners or erring citizens are disposed of or killed or thrown to the abyss, but because of the country’s remarkably low crime rates, where there is no need to go to courts anymore. Because fewer public order violators exist, some prisons are now on lease to countries. While many countries wrestle with overcrowded prisons, the Netherlands faces an unusual problem: its prisons are too empty.

Just wishful thinking: If he made good use of his time in the Netherlands, maybe Digong would learn to see the benefits of a less punitive approach to dealing with crime. The latest data shows that only about 30 people are serving life sentences in the remaining prisons in the Netherlands. Being in the Netherlands could then be a productive time to reflect, relearn, and be remorseful of past mistakes. But would he?

Digong is now at the ICC’s detention unit in Scheveningen, a seaside district of The Hague.  He is now staying in the facility, which is part of a Dutch prison, with five other ICC detainees facing their trials for heinous crimes against humanity. Inside his detention cell, Tatay Digong would still live a relatively comfortable life, with complete amenities: bed, desk, shelves, fully airconditioned refrigerator, own comfort and shower room, cable television except for access to the internet but with full health care from doctors and access to sports facilities and sunlight. According to the ICC information bulletin, the detainees’ physical, mental, and spiritual well-being is well cared for. This is so much different from the detention facilities in the Philippines, especially during the period of martial law of the current president’s late father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos senior.  

The Netherlands is known for its impartial and effective judicial system, and it is among the leading countries in the world in terms of effectively dealing with justice and dispute resolution. A lawyer familiar with the world’s judicial systems, Digong would get to know that there is another way to stop criminality and impunity and have a peaceful and safe community. Would he be shocked at all? Digong is now in detention in the Netherlands; there, he would know that the justice system is swift and fair but not in the way of the killing fields that he pursued in his anti-drugs war during his heyday.

Digong may meet the authorities in the Netherlands who would share about how to successfully integrate offenders into mainstream society, not by being simply punitive but by focusing on the offenders’ “strengths, talents and possibilities” and “what positive steps can help heal” their hearts. Killing or intimidation do not have a place in a civilized world to effect change and achieve a safe and peaceful community.

In the Netherlands, even the authorities, like senior police officers, prosecutors, or judges, believe that imprisonment and harsh methods of punishing people work to the advantage of society.  Poverty, insecurity, joblessness, and government neglect play a significant role in the rise of criminality. Inversely, if people have jobs, can feed their families well, and are provided with basic amenities and needs like education and health care, they all play a role in reducing crime.

Why are the Dutch people deeply concerned about humanity?  I remember a long-time family friend, a Dutch priest now long gone - Fr William Van Kuyk-  of the Divine Word Seminary, who had shared a bit of the history of his native country.  Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands during the 1940s. Since then, the Netherlands has significantly learned from its history - during the Nazi occupation during the second world war, when the people went through the horrors of fascist imprisonment, they committed never to go through this period anymore. Before the Nazi occupation, detainees and public offenders were treated with greater humanity.  

It is inspiring to note that even the most hardened criminals can change when provided with basic needs and a life of dignity. The Netherlands can be a source of life lessons. Across the country, the government anticipates more prison closures because of the falling crime rate, where more prisons are closed down for lack of detainees! What worries the government is that when prisons close, this would result in the termination of thousands of employees who would lose their jobs or be transferred to other workers.

It is a happy outcome when perceived public offenders or criminals are given more motivation to change and continue to live their lives more meaningfully and productively—not disposed of or terminated, but given a new lease on life.