SOLICITOR General Menardo Guevarra yesterday dismissed calls for him to resign after the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) refused to represent the government in the habeas corpus petitions filed before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the arrest and turnover of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Guevarra said he is leaving it up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to decide if he would continue to lead the OSG.
“Only the president can say that. The President alone can say if he still trusts me,” he said when asked if he will resign.
“These habeas corpus cases are just a tiny fraction of the hundreds, if not thousands, of tough cases that the OSG is handling for the government. I will stay in command of all these cases, unless the president tells me to step down,” he added.
Communications Secretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, in a briefing in Malacañang, said Guevarra should make a personal assessment if he should stay on as solicitor general or resign.
“Siguro po mas maganda po kung mismo si SolGen ang mag-assess sa sarili niya kung siya pa po ba ay nararapat na tumayo bilang solicitor general (It is probably better if the SolGen himself would assess if he should remain as solicitor general),” she said.
In a separate interview with News5, Guevarra asserted there was no conflict of interest when the OSG recused from representing the government in the consolidated habeas corpus petitions of the Duterte children.
“I have no conflict of interest. The OSG represents the interest of the Republic vis-a-vis the ICC and no other interest. Our recusal is not personal, it is institutional,” he said.
“The OSG is not only the government’s counsel; it is also the tribune of the people. The President, in his wisdom, fully understands this,” he added.
The OSG on Monday submitted a manifestation to the SC that it was recusing from commenting and representing the government officials who were named as respondents in the consolidated habeas corpus petitions separately filed by Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, and Veronica “Kitty” Duterte.
In justifying its move, the OSG cited its “firm stance” that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the country after Manila officially withdrew from the Rome Statute that created the ICC in 2019.
Named respondents in the petitions are Guevarra, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, CIDG head Nicolas D. Torre III, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo, AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr., and Antonio Alcantara, Executive Director of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime.
Castro said the position taken by the OSG does not mean that it was against the actions taken by the government, particularly in fulfilling its obligations to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) which had requested aid from the Philippines in the arrest of Duterte.
“SolGen Guevarra (said) that he was only discussing the jurisdiction of the ICC and that is also the pronouncement of the president, that the ICC has no more jurisdiction over the Philippines – so, there’s nothing wrong with that. But never did he, never did SolGen mention that he is against the cooperation of the government with the Interpol,” she said.
She added that some people, such as former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo are expected to twist the OSG statement and make it “favorable to their position.”
Panelo has said that the OSG’s decision to recuse itself is an “implied admission” that the international body has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and that the arrest and detention was “illegal and unconstitutional.”
FIRE GUEVARRA
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio yesterday said Marcos may need to fire Guevarra from his post.
Carpio stressed that Guevarra serves at the pleasure of Malacañang and he can resign or be fired anytime.
“Pag inabandon ka ng abogado mo, siyempre i-fire mo (If your lawyer abandons you, then you can fire that lawyer),” he said in an interview with TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
He said that as the solicitor general, Guevarra represents the government, its agencies and instrumentalities, officials and agents in any case requiring the services of a lawyer.
Withstanding his personal opinion, he said Guevarra should not have directly contradicted the position of his boss, in this case the president of the Philippines, who considered the ICC arrest warrant as legal and valid, and thus, enforceable.
“Dapat ang trabaho niya is to defend that (His job was to defend [that position],” he stressed.
He said that when Guevarra told the SC that he cannot effectively defend the government’s action, “parang sinasabi niya na mali yung ginawa ng gobyerno, na mali ang kanyang boss. Masamang optics yan (he virtually said that the government’s action was wrong, that his boss was wrong. That is not good optics).”
Carpio said Philippine authorities have the option to surrender Duterte to the custody of the ICC since there is already a warrant for his arrest.
The all-women ICC Pretrial Chamber 1 headed by Presiding Judge Iula Antoanella Motoc issued the warrant against Duterte in relation to the crimes against humanity charges stemming over the extrajudicial killings in his anti-drug campaign during his time as mayor of Davao City and as president.
Carpio said there was legal basis in the turnover of the former president to ICC jurisdiction and cited Republic Act 9851 and an SC decision stating that the Philippines has to cooperate with the ICC for crimes that were committed when the country was still a member of the Rome Statute.
RA 9851 defined and penalized crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity. It likewise defined the country’s jurisdiction over such crimes and designated special courts to hear them. It was enacted in 2009.
“Saka may basis naman. Meron namang Republic Act 9851, saka ‘yung SC sinabi nila, unanimous sila, sinabi nila obligado pa rin tayo to cooperate with the ICC for crimes committed while we were a member (There is basis for the government’s action. There is RA 9851, and the SC has unanimously held that we are still obliged to cooperate with the ICC for crimes committed while we were still a member [of the Rome Statute),” the retired magistrate said.
“Talagang napakasama ng nangyari dahil sinabi niyang walang jurisdiction ang ICC. ‘Yun nga ang posisyon ng government ngayon, na nilipat nila dahil kasi the ICC should take over under Republic Act 9851 (What happened is unacceptable. He said the ICC has no jurisdiction… but the government said it surrendered [Duterte to the ICC] because the ICC should take over on the basis of Republic Act 9851),” he said.
Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines national president Domingo Egon Cayosa echoed Carpio’s stance, adding that Guevarra’s move put the government in an “ackward” situation.
“In the structure of our government, the solicitor general is the lawyer of the Republic. The Office of the Solicitor General sila ang nagde-defend sa Republic (The Office of the Solicitor General defends the Republic),” Cayosa told News5 in an interview.
“So, because of personal reason or conflict of interest due to previous positions that you cannot abandon or very awkward for you to abandon, I think the next step for you is to let go, or at least, tender your resignation and leave it to the appointing power to decide,” he said. .
Carpio said the OSG’s move could be used by the camp of the former president to sow more intrigue and division in the government and the country. He did not elaborate. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
