Ched Rick Gatchalian

The Duterte siblings -- Vice President Sara Duterte, Paolo Duterte, Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, and Davao City acting Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte -- at The Hague, the Netherlands, where they visited their father, detained former President Rodrigo Duterte, on August 27, 2025. Jofelle Tesorio, ABS-CBN News

 

Article (news)

Duterte siblings urge SC to prohibit PH gov’t from cooperating with ICC, Interpol; says issues on Rody’s arrest ‘not moot’

Job Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17676914220661756315983707082825_duterte sibs.webp" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="The Duterte siblings -- Vice President Sara Duterte, Paolo Duterte, Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, and Davao City acting Mayor Sebastian &quot;Baste&quot; Duterte -- at The Hague, the Netherlands, where they visited their father, detained former President Rodrigo Duterte, on August 27, 2025. Jofelle Tesorio, ABS-CBN News"/>The Duterte siblings -- Vice President Sara Duterte, Paolo Duterte, Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, and Davao City acting Mayor Sebastian &quot;Baste&quot; Duterte -- at The Hague, the Netherlands, where they visited their father, detained former President Rodrigo Duterte, on August 27, 2025. Jofelle Tesorio, ABS-CBN NewsMANILA (UPDATED) -- The Duterte siblings have urged the Supreme Court to direct officials of the government to facilitate the return of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the Philippines, just as they reiterated that the issues surrounding his arrest last year are &quot;not moot.&quot; </div>The Duterte scions have submitted their respective memorandum to the High Court following its directive in November last year. This is for the consolidated petitions concerning the arrest and transfer of the former President to the Netherlands.In his 66-paged memorandum dated Jan. 5, Rep. Paolo Duterte – through counsel Harry Roque – emphasized that their petitions &quot;must survive&quot; and that the issues surrounding their father&#x27;s arrest are not moot, noting that the former Philippine leader remained in detention in The Hague. Roque, for his part, described his former boss&#x27; continuing detention and arrest as unconstitutional and illegal. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/6/icc-junks-duterte-camp-bid-to-obtain-medical-expert-communications-1116">ICC junks Duterte camp bid to obtain medical expert communications</a></div>&quot;There is an actual case or controversy which this Honorable Court needs to resolve,&quot; the document read. &quot;This Honorable Court may still declare the arrest and deprivation of liberty of FPRRD as illegal and unconstitutional,&quot; it added. This was why Rep. Duterte prayed to the High Court to issue a writ of habeas corpus so his father could be &quot;discharged from his confinement and detention&quot; and to &quot;annul the acts&quot; of the Philippine government which affirms their cooperation with the ICC and Interpol. Aside from this, he urged the Supreme Court to &quot;prohibit respondents from cooperating with the ICC and Interpol relating to the application of the Rome Statute in the Philippines.&quot; For the lawmaker, the Supreme Court still has the authority to enforce its judgment, despite an earlier statement from an ICC assistant to counsel that their plea does not have any bearing to the permanent court. &quot;Again, the primordial question in the instant cases is the constitutionality of the cooperation of Respondents with the Interpol in the enforcement of the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC,&quot; a portion of the memorandum read. &quot;Moreover, in Article 31 of the Interpol Constitution, which Respondents also cite, it must be emphasized that the cooperation to be extended must be compatible with our domestic legislation,&quot; it added. In the memorandum, the Duterte siblings emphasized that the Philippine government &quot;extradited and surrendered&quot; the former president to the ICC &quot;illegally.&quot;<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/6/duterte-s-medical-exam-report-given-to-defense-but-content-confidential-kaufman-1644">Duterte’s medical exam report given to defense but content ‘confidential’ – Kaufman</a></div>&quot;In the instant case, the procedure in extraditing and surrendering FPRRD to a foreign authority was not followed, depriving him of his Constitutionally given right,&quot; the document read. In a separate Facebook post, Roque said their memorandum sought to emphasize that ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines after the country withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019. He added that domestic law &quot;clearly vests jurisdiction in Philippine courts, not in a foreign tribunal.&quot; &quot;The deprivation of liberty is ongoing. This case is not moot. The Supreme Court can still rule on the legality of the arrest and the acts of cooperation that led to it,&quot; Roque said. &quot;Republic Act No. 9851 remains fully operative. Philippine courts have primary and exclusive jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed within Philippine territory. The ICC is, at best, complementary — and complementarity cannot survive withdrawal,&quot; he added. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/14/newest-filipino-icc-accredited-lawyer-says-participation-in-duterte-case-possible-1640">Newest Filipino ICC accredited lawyer says participation in Duterte case ‘possible’</a></div><div> </div><div>&#x27;BRING HIM HOME&#x27; </div>Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte urged the High Court in his memorandum to direct the respondents to &quot;produce the body of the detainee… and explain forthwith, why petitioner should not be set at liberty without delay.&quot;&quot;Baste&quot; – who took the helm as Davao City&#x27;s mayor in lieu of his father – prefaced his 137-page memorandum with a short statement: &quot;Bring him home,&quot; and argued that local courts did not issue any arrest warrant. He noted that the consequences and impact of his father&#x27;s arrest by the Interpol remained active, just as the &quot;constitutional injuries&quot; because of the event persisted. &quot;What transpired was a surrender carried out in flagrant disregard of due process of law, thereby squarely invoking the remedy and constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,&quot; he said.  &quot;To countenance such action would set a perilous precedent, one that allows constitutional safeguards to be nullified by haste, secrecy, or mere executive imprimatur, effectively reducing the Bill of Rights to an empty and illusory promise,&quot; he added.For her part, Veronica &quot;Kitty&quot; Duterte said the High Court should declare her father&#x27;s arrest as unconstitutional and illegal. She also said the SC should order the respondents to &quot;take all available steps to facilitate the immediate return&quot; of the former Philippines leader to the country.It can be remembered that in December, the Office of the Prosecutor formally requested that the ICC uphold its jurisdiction over alleged crimes against humanity committed during the administration of Duterte, despite the nation&#x27;s withdrawal from the court.In a 22-page brief filed on December 8, 2025, it argued that the ICC&#x27;s mandate to investigate the &quot;murder of numerous civilians&quot; remains intact because legal proceedings were already underway before the Philippines officially left the global body.The filing serves as a direct rebuttal to Duterte&#x27;s legal team, which has moved to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds.Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague in the Netherlands since March 2025 to face a crimes against humanity case related to his violent war on drugs, where thousands of &quot;drug personalities&quot; were killed in what authorities said were justified shootings.

The Duterte siblings have urged the Supreme Court to prohibit the Philippine government from further cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Interpol regarding the application of the Rome Statute, following the arrest of their father former President Rodrigo Duterte last year.

The Duterte siblings have urged the Supreme Court to prohibit the Philippine government from further cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Interpol regarding the application of the Rome Statute, following the arrest of their father former President Rodrigo Duterte last year.

Duterte siblings urge SC to prohibit PH gov't from cooperating with ICC, Interpol; say issues on father's arrest 'not moot'

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Duterte siblings urge SC to prohibit PH gov't from cooperating with ICC, Interpol; say issues on father's arrest 'not moot'

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 06, 2026 05:30 PM PHT

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Updated January 06, 2026 06:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Duterte siblings

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

International Criminal Court

Harry Roque

Supreme Court

The Hague

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