MANILA, Philippines – Veronica “Kitty” Duterte has a filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) to seek the return of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was arrested and flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands over crimes against humanity.
Represented by Duterte’s former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, Kitty filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the High Court on Wednesday, March 12, a day after the former president’s arrest in Pasay City on Tuesday. Habeas corpus, directly translated as “produce the body,” is a legal remedy often used by activists who were illegally detained.
Panelo’s son, Salvador Paolo Jr., is also part of the legal team.
In the petition, Kitty asked the Court to compel the government – Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, Philippine National Police chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, and PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Police Major General Nicolas Torre III – to return the former president to the Philippines.
But can the habeas corpus, a local remedy, assure Duterte’s return now that he had already been flown to the Netherlands?
“Umaasa kami na dahil ‘yung eroplano ay nasa kustodiya pa ng Pilipinas, ng gobyerno, umaasa kami na ‘pag inutusan sila ng Supreme Court na ibalik si [dating] pangulong Duterte dito at iprisinta sa Supreme Court, kaya pa rin nilang gawin. Unang-una, hindi puwede maging batayan ng pag-aresto at pagditena ng dating pangulong Duterte ang ICC warrant of arrest dahil walang jurisdiction ang ICC sa ating bansa,” Panelo Jr. said.
(We’re hoping that because the aircraft used for the former president is under the custody of the Philippine government, we’re hoping that when the Supreme Court orders the former president’s return here and presentation before the Supreme Court, the parties would comply. First of all, former president Rodrigo Duterte cannot be arrested and detained through an ICC warrant because the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines.)
Duterte faces a crimes against humanity case before the ICC and was ordered arrested by the all-women panel of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I. They found that there were enough allegations against Duterte and that he “used the direct perpetrators [Davao Death Squad and law enforcers] of the crimes as tools to commit the crimes.”
Duterte was flown overseas shortly past 11 pm on Tuesday, after being held under custody in Villamor Air Base for over 10 hours as he awaited his flight.
The former chief executive, who launched a drug war that killed nearly 30,000 people, according to human rights groups’ tallies, became the first former Philippine head of state to be arrested by an international tribunal, and the first former Asian head of state to be arrested over crimes against humanity.
Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, touted as the architect of Duterte’s Drug way, filed a petition with the SC on Tuesday seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the former president’s arrest. This marked the legal saga for Duterte as an internationally-charged suspect.
Although the SC has already conducted a special raffle to assign the TRO petition, the High Court has yet to decide if it will issue an actual TRO or not. Therefore, there was no legal remedy that could have blocked Duterte’s transfer to the ICC.
Just like how the former president’s camp decried alleged irregularities in his arrest, their camp is now seeking a remedy invoked by progressives amid abductions and illegal arrests during the Duterte administration. In 2019, then-president Duterte even threatened to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and arrest “all” of his critics. He also warned that he would declare a “revolutionary war” if pushed to a corner.
Vice President Sara Duterte left for the Netherlands on Wednesday to help organize her father’s legal team. – Rappler.com