This is as good a time as any for our motherland, the Republic of the Philippines, to rejoin the International Criminal Court. After all, a former Philippine president is now in The Hague awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

Rodrigo Duterte was arrested – his followers say kidnapped – by Interpol agents at the behest of the ICC at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as soon as the ex-president arrived from a short trip to HongKong last week.

Hours later, he was taken by private jet to The Netherlands, where the ICC has its headquarters.

Duterte had famously withdrawn the country’s membership from the court in the middle of his term as president, arguing that the Philippines had a perfectly functioning justice system.

In fact, he was being investigated at that time for his alleged crimes against humanity.

Sadly, his followers – including those who should know better – have been using the Philippines’ non-membership in the ICC to question why he was being tried by the court.

Time and again, the ICC has made it clear that Duterte was being investigated for alleged crimes when the Philippines was still a member-state. Exiting the court did not absolve him of his crimes, if any.

We do not know what the ultimate fate of the controversial ex-president will be. Only one of two things can happen. He will either be found guilty or absolved of the charges.

Luckily for him, the ICC does not mete out the death penalty.  But his followers say that placing him in virtual isolation in a foreign land is already punishment enough. If found guilty, it will be how Duterte will be spending the rest of his life.

We leave it up to the wisdom of the court to determine what will happen to Rodrigo Roa Duterte. But we must join the calls of various quarters that the Philippines should now rejoin the ICC.

Not only is it the right thing to do, it also shows that the Philippines acknowledges that membership in the court is absolutely necessary because the country’s justice system remains flawed, with too many loopholes used by “smart” lawyers to get their clients off the hook when they would otherwise have been found guilty in other courts.

The country’s  justice system is also prey to technicalities that allow convicted parties to evade penalty.

Let us not forget that former first lady Imelda Marcos has already been convicted of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Ditto with Bongbong Marcos who should be serving a nine-year prison term for failing to file his Income Tax Returns.

We certainly hope that Mr. Marcos is not blocking the Philippines’ return to the ICC because he is afraid he may meet the same fate as Mr. Duterte, especially with the possibility that Vice President Sara Duterte may succeed him.

To show that his regime is not using the ICC to punish Mr. Duterte, Mr. Marcos should take the lead and immediately have the Philippines return as member of the International Criminal Court.