DOJ to represent gov’t in consolidated petitions of Duterte siblings

The Department of Justice will represent the respondent government officials in the consolidated petitions for habeas corpus filed by the children of former President Rodrigo Duterte before the Supreme Court, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday.

“We were given the authorization by the executive secretary to — na kami na ang sumagot at okay na. Nabigay na namin ‘yung comment namin kahapon,” Remulla said in an ambush interview.

(We were given the authorization by the executive secretary to answer and it's already okay. We gave our comment yesterday.)

This came following the recusal on Monday of the Office of the Solicitor General on the petitions filed by Veronica "Kitty" Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, and Davao City Representative Paolo "Pulong" Duterte.

The OSG serves as the government's principal law office and legal defender.

In their petitions, the Duterte siblings sought a writ of habeas corpus to secure the release of the former president from his detention. The elder Duterte is currently detained at The Hague, Netherlands.

The respondents in the petitions are Remulla, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Philippine National Police chief Police General Rommel Marbil, PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Major General Nicolas Torre III, former Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime Executive Director Antonio Alcantara, and others.

In its motion to recuse, the OSG said it “may not be able to effectively represent Respondents in these cases” due to its firm stance that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Remulla declined to disclose details regarding their comment to the SC.

The respondents were asked by the SC to explain why a writ of habeas corpus should not be issued.

“‘Yung dokumentong binigay namin, sapat na ‘yun para sagutin ‘yung mga sinabi nila sa Korte,” he said.

(The document that we gave is enough to address what they said before the SC.)

Philippine officials have stated that the ICC's warrant was transmitted through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

Malacañang said it was the prerogative of the Philippine government to comply with its Interpol commitments, while the Justice Department reiterated that the country remains an Interpol member despite its ICC withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Remulla refused to comment on the recusal of the OSG.

“It’s personal to him. I have no comment on that,” he said.

Senator Ronald "Bato" deal Rosa praised Guevarra for refusing to defend the government’s move to cooperate with the ICC, particularly regarding the petitions filed by Duterte’s children before the Supreme Court.

"Mabuti pa itong Solicitor General alam nila ang kanilang trabaho. Mabuhay po kayo SolGen Guevarra et. al for refusing to defend this abusive government," he said.

Malacañang has called on Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra to assess himself if he is still capable of serving as the government’s top lawyer following the recusal.

For his part, Guevarra said it is up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. whether he will remain as the government’s top lawyer.—AOL/KG, GMA Integrated News