Duterte camp tells ICC about PH stand on possibility of interim release

Former President Rodrigo Duterte's camp has notified the International Criminal Court (ICC) that the Philippine government appears willing to accept a decision that would allow him temporary liberty while he faces charges related to his controversial war on drugs.

In a filing to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I on Friday, defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman cited Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro, who said at a press conference on Wednesday that the Marcos administration would abide by the court's decision regarding the request for temporary release.

Kaufman said the possibility of an interim release is "now contemplated without objection by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, which surrendered Mr. Duterte to the International Criminal Court."

Castro made the statement after Vice President Sara Duterte said a country has committed to accepting her father should the request be granted.

The vice president did not specify the country but said that it is not Japan. Australia, a country she has visited, previously stated that it would not host her father.

In June, Duterte's camp asked the ICC for an interim release, arguing that the 80-year-old former leader is not a flight risk and that his arrest is not necessary "to ensure the integrity of the investigations or to preclude the continued commission of crimes."

Kaufman, in the latest submission to the ICC, said Duterte had instructed him "to do all possible to ensure his interim release."

Duterte has been detained at the ICC in The Hague since March 12 while awaiting trial for charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the alleged abuses in his war on drugs when he was Davao City mayor and president. 

The confirmation of charges, originally set for September 23, has been postponed indefinitely after his camp said that he was “not fit to stand trial.”

Kaufman had told the ICC that all legal proceedings against his client must be postponed as the former president lacked the capacity to apply the cognitive skills essential for the proper conduct of his defense.

He said Duterte has "impaired memory and concomitant inability to retain new information or to recall events, places, timing or even members of his close family and defense team." —VBL, GMA Integrated News