MANILA, Philippines – Long-time Duterte ally Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa filed a petition with the Supreme Court (SC) to question the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte through an International Criminal Court-issued (ICC) warrant, marking the start of a legal battle between the Marcos and Duterte camps.
Dela Rosa filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with the High Court dominated by Duterte-appointee justices on Tuesday, March 11. Certiorari is a legal remedy used to review another body’s decision or order, or to review whether there was grave abuse of discretion.
The camp also requested for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or writ of preliminary prohibitory and mandatory injunction. If issued, a TRO can block an order from being implemented. Lawyer Israelito Torreon, the legal counsel of alleged trafficker Apollo Quiboloy, represents Dela Rosa in the SC petition.
Duterte was arrested by the ICC through the Interpol on Tuesday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport over crimes against humanity, and was later brought to Villamor Air Base, where he’s currently under custody. He was arrested after the ICC tapped the Interpol – even though the Philippines is no longer an ICC member-state, the country remains part of the Interpol.
In the petition, Dela Rosa asked the High Court to issue a TRO to stop the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC and the Interpol. They also asked the High Court to issue a decision declaring the unconstitutionality of the Philippine government’s cooperation with the ICC.
Lastly, the petition also requested for the issuance of an injunction “perpetually restraining and prohibiting respondents, their officers, and all persons acting under their authority from engaging in any form of cooperation with the ICC in relation to the Philippine situation.”
In relation to the petition, Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said in a statement, “Given the significance of this case and upon the Chief Justice’s instructions, a special raffle has been conducted pursuant to Rule 7, Section 7 of the Internal Rules of the Supreme Court.”
This is not the first time that an ICC-related petition was filed with the High Court. The SC issued a reminder in a 2021 ruling that the Philippines was still obliged to cooperate in criminal proceedings of the ICC, even if it had withdrawn from the Rome Statute in 2019.
Marcos’ chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said: “The current legal problem of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte is not caused by Philippine laws. His legal problem is caused by laws enforceable by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is not correct to to blame the Philippine government for the current legal problem of ex-PRRD.”
“His lawyers should endeavor to secure a copy of the ICC charges against him so that they will know why he was ordered to be arrested by the ICC. Philippine domestic laws have nothing to do with his current legal problem,” he added.
In its warrant, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said it believed there were enough allegations against the former president. The all-women chamber said Duterte “used the direct perpetrators of the crimes as tools to commit the crimes.”
ICC assistant counsel Kristina Conti said that following Duterte’s arrest, the former president should be brought to an ICC-member state, before being flown to the ICC headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands. Nearby ICC member-states are Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Japan, and South Korea. – Rappler.com