Senate minority seeks remedies in PH courts for Filipinos accused of crimes abroad

The Senate minority bloc has filed a resolution seeking to express the sense of the chamber to allow Filipinos accused of crimes abroad to avail first of legal remedies from Philippine courts before they are surrendered.

This developed after the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor identified incumbent Senators Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa—both members of the minority bloc—as among the alleged co-perpetrators in the crimes against humanity case of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Under proposed Senate Resolution 307, which was filed on Wednesday, February 18, the minority bloc sought protection for all Filipinos against extraordinary rendition and guarantee them a reasonable time prior to their surrender by or extradition from the Philippines to seek redress from the courts and avail of legal remedies possible. 

The resolution was signed by all nine members of the Senate minority bloc, including Dela Rosa and Go.

Citing the document released by the ICC which tagged Duterte's alleged co-perpetrators, the resolution pointed out that the Filipinos identified by the ICC Prosecutor have not been formally charged, much less convicted of any criminal offense under domestic and international law.

READ — DAY IN COURT: ICC Hearings on the Charges vs. Duterte

Therefore, the resolution said, they have every right to expect that their country shall ensure that all measures to guarantee their protection within the bounds of law and ensure that they are afforded due process, at the minimum, are accordingly implemented.

"Indeed, due process as a fundamental rule should always be the guiding factor as the State complies with its obligations under international law to other countries, tribunals and persons," the resolution read. 

"This is precisely the reason that the State, inasmuch as it endeavors to exact accountability from those who violate the law, still guarantees persons suspected or accused of having committed even the gravest crimes under international law all rights necessary to ensure that their trial will be fair and prompt in strict accordance with national and international law and standards for fair trial; and ensures that the legal systems in place provide accessible and sensitive avenues of redress for victims," it added. 

The resolution also noted that "due process reared its ugly head in 2025" when the Philippines surrendered Duterte to the custody of the ICC based on a warrant for crimes against humanity issued over his administration's drug war. 

"The threat of being whisked away to an international tribunal at the whim of the Executive, without any recourse to our judicial system that is precisely designed to prevent abuses of authority and discretion, not only undermines but also compromises the integrity of the work that our men and women in uniform, many of them in actual combat in insurgencies, and even cabinet members and other high-ranking government officials perform every single day." 

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11, 2025, and is currently detained in The Hague, Netherlands.

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor earlier identified dela Rosa and Go, and other former government officials as the former president’s co-perpetrators in the "common plan" to "neutralize alleged criminals" through "violent crimes including murder.” — VDV, GMA Integrated News