Duterte, Bato question arrest, ICC cooperation before SC

The camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald Dela Rosa filed Tuesday a petition asking the Supreme Court (SC) to direct the government to release the former president from detention.

This came hours after the arrest of Duterte at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 for alleged crimes against humanity.

“We are earnestly praying to the Honorable SC to grant us a TRO, restraining the Philippine government, the respondent, from cooperating with the ICC,” Atty. Israelito Torreon, their legal counsel, said in an interview.

“And to release outright from custody our beloved former President Rodrigo Duterte on the ground that his detention now is illegal, unconstitutional, and has no basis under the law,” he added.

The respondents are Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Police chief Police General Rommel Marbil, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Major General Nicolas Torre III, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, former Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, and Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner Jr.

In the petition, they asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting the agencies from cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on its investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war as well as in assisting the tribunal from enforcing arrest warrants, summons, or requests.

They also asked for a TRO to prohibit the government from coordinating and providing assistance to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) or any foreign law agency regarding the execution of warrants.

“…and if already arrested, that the Honorable Court order that the petitioners or any other individuals in connection with the ICC’s investigation be immediately released,” the petition read.

Aside from this, they asked for the issuance of a writ of preliminary prohibitory and mandatory injunction for the government to immediately suspend any ongoing cooperation with the ICC. The writ of injunction also seeks to prohibit state forces from assisting or executing any ICC-issued warrants or arrest orders.

The petitioners further said that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, in 2019 effectively ended any legal obligations for cooperation with the tribunal. They assert that the government's cooperation with ICC investigators, prosecutors, and the enforcement of arrest warrants is both a violation of the country's sovereignty and unconstitutional.

“And we call upon the Philippine government to stick with the law, with the rule of law, that since the Philippines is no longer a party to the ICC, then it has no business anymore cooperating with such a body, including the international police, Interpol,” Torreon said.

Duterte and Dela Rosa emphasized that the Philippines has a functioning legal system capable of investigating and prosecuting crimes domestically, citing the principle of complementarity, which prevents the ICC from exercising jurisdiction over a state with an adequate judicial system.

The SC has since raffled off the petition to an associate justice.

The ICC is investigating allegations of crimes against humanity committed in the country between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019.

Government records show that there were at least 6,200 drug suspects killed in police operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but several human rights groups have refuted this and say that the number may have reached as much as 30,000 due to unreported related killings.

Duterte, meanwhile, had said he was ready to face the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC for his controversial war against illegal drugs, stressing that he would handle it directly as a lawyer and would not escape to another country. — with Sherylin Untalan/RSJ/VBL, GMA Integrated News