Kitty Duterte asks SC to resolve petitions on return of ex-President Duterte

The camp of Veronica “Kitty” Duterte on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve the pending consolidated petitions seeking the return to the Philippines of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently detained at The Hague.

In a 26-page motion, Duterte asked the High Court to urgently resolve the petition and direct the government to take all available steps to facilitate the return of Duterte to the Philippines as soon as possible.

“Petitioner implores this Honorable Court to exercise similar resolve here to ensure that constitutional violations do not go unremedied or unpunished, even if the ruling could influence the country’s political landscape,” the motion read.

In separate petitions filed in March, Kitty and her half-brothers Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte asked the SC to order the government to present Duterte.

After his arrest on March 11, the former President was flown to The Hague, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is based, to face charges linked to his war on illegal drugs.

Kitty Duterte argued that the relief is necessary to prevent “the further deterioration” of her father’s health and his “undignified death in foreign custody.”

“At bare minimum, urgent judicial relief will spare the nation the ignominy of having a beloved former President – expelled from his homeland without due process of law – suffer an undignified death in the custody of his foreign captors, with this Honorable Court not lifting a finger to intervene,” the motion said.

The former President’s legal counsel in the ICC said the 80-year-old Duterte has cognitive impairment and that he is unable to recall events, places, timing, or even members of his close family.

The ICC, for its part, has ordered a medical examination to be conducted on Duterte to determine his fitness to stand trial.

Aside from this, Kitty Duterte said their petitions must be granted to “hold accountable those responsible for his extralegal rendition” and to “forestall further threat to liberty without due process.”

Imminent threat of repetition

She warned of an “imminent threat of repetition” amid reports that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, her father’s ally.

She cited the remark of the Department of Justice that the Philippine government will carry out the arrest warrant if the ICC issues it. The DOJ said the government can choose to extradite or surrender Dela Rosa to the tribunal.

For their part, Dela Rosa’s camp said the government has no legal basis to surrender any of its citizens to an international tribunal due to the absence of rules governing the process.

Though there is no known case lodged against the senator in the ICC, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV previously said Dela Rosa and four other former ranking police officials have been tagged in the ICC probe into the war on drugs.

Dela Rosa served as the chief of the Philippine National Police during the implementation of the drug war under the Duterte administration.

Based on government records, around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug operations. Human rights organizations, however, say that the number may reach 30,000 due to the unreported related slays. — JMA, GMA Integrated News