JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said a country in South America would likely host former president Rodrigo Duterte if the International Criminal Court (ICC) approves his request for interim release.
Remulla, when asked by ABS-CBN News if he was aware what third country is willing to receive Duterte, replied: “Most possibly it’s South America, a country somewhere in South America.”
He did not name the particular country.
Among the countries in Latin America and the Carribean that are signatories to the Rome Statute that created the ICC are Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Barbados, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevitts, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
During her meeting with supporters in Melbourne last Sunday, Vice President Sara Duterte said Australia is in the list of countries that are being considered by her father’s lawyers for his possible interim release.
Duterte’s defense lawyers have told the ICC Pre Trial Chamber 1 that a third country has agreed to accept the former president if his request for interim release from detention at the Hague is approved.
Chief defense legal counsel Nicolas Kaufman has told the court that the prosecution team has no objection to Duterte being released to a third country.
But the ICC Office of the Prosecutor filed its opposition to the request, as it denied that it agreed to the interim release of the former president to an unspecified country.
In its submission to the court, the prosecution said that releasing Duterte to the proposed country would pose logistical challenges when he is called to appear before the chamber.
It also said that the proposed host “does not have the same extensive history of cooperation with the ICC.”
It likewise said that the former chief executive’s release raises significant security concerns for witnesses and the integrity of court proceedings.
It added that the continued detention of the 80-year-old Duterte is necessary to ensure his appearance in the trial of the crimes against humanity charges.
The prosecution said that releasing Duterte will allow him to exercise influence and also intimidate witnesses who will testify in his trial, as it cited several instances when the former president intimidated and harassed critics and witness, including the case of former senator and now incoming Rep. Leila de Lima (PL, ML), who was detained for almost seven year on trumped up drug charges.
It also cited the former chief executive’s call for the public to “kill” bishops and “shoot” human rights activists who criticized his bloody war on drugs.
It said that despite Duterte no longer being the Philippine president, his associates and family members, including her daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, remain in power.
The prosecution also said there is enough evidence, including public utterances of Duterte, that he does not accept the legitimacy of the ICC, including threatening a shootout if the tribunal arrested him.
Duterte is set to appear before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 on September 23, 2025 for the confirmation of the crimes against humanity charges against him.
He first appeared before the chamber via videoconference on March 14, three days after he was arrested in Manila on an ICC warrant and flown to the Netherlands.
NEW HOST COUNTRY
Lawyer Gilbert Andres, executive director of the Center for International Law, said Duterte’s camp changed the proposed country that would host him in the event that the ICC grants his bid for interim release.
CenterLaw is one of the organizations helping the victims of Duterte’s drug war prepare for the trial.
Andres said the ICC Office of the Prosecutors had initial discussions with the defense lawyers about the ICC member country that would receive Duterte.
However, he said the defense team supposedly submitted a different name of the country that would receive Duterte when they filed their formal application for interim release.
“May initial discussion, ang understanding sa ganitong bansa nga ‘yung pinupuntirya na pwede mag accept kay Mr. Duterte ngunit dun po sa application, ibang bansa po. Mahirap ipaliwanag kasi naka-redact kung anong bansa ‘yung intended talaga nung discussion at ‘yung bansang nakalagay nga sa application (There were initial discussions, with the understanding that this particular country would accept Mr. Duterte but in the application, it was a different country [that was listed]. It is difficult to explain since the name of the country was redacted as well as the in the application),” Andres told radio dzMM.
He said the prosecution cannot agree in advance to a deal that they have not read.
WITNESS PROTECTION?
Asked if the ICC has sought assistance from the DOJ in the trial of the case against Duterte, Remulla said they only secured the people who maybe needed to testify before the international court.
“There is an official word already that they have gone to our Witness Protection Program to secure the people who may be needed to testify in the Hague,” he said.
He added: “We have given our support and cooperation as this request is a well founded request based on the necessity to bring the witnesses safely to the Hague to testify.”
‘NO BASIS’
Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday said there is no basis for the prosecution to say that her father may influence or even intimidate witnesses if he will be granted interim release by the ICC.
She said that her father “never did anything against the witnesses” when he was still mayor and later, president.
“It doesn’t make sense to say na magkakaroon pa siya ng influence kung meron siyang interim release dahil noong nandito siya sa Pilipinas, naging mayor siya, naging president siya at even noong natapos ang term niya hindi niya kailanman tinanong (that he will have an influence if he’s granted interim release because when he was here in the Philippines, he became a mayor, a president, and even when his term ended, he never asked about the witnesses),” she told reporters at the 2025 Kasarilyan, the Office of the Vice President’s annual pride reception, which was held in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
The Vice President said that while she cannot deny that she has a position in the government, “my power and authority do not extend beyond Philippine shores.”
“So, kung saan man yung bansa na may interim release ay wala tayong say doon at hindi makikinig yung gobyerno doon sa Philippine vice president (Wherever that country where he will be potentially released, I don’t wield influence there and the government there will not listen to a Philippine vice president),” she said.
The Vice President also questioned the move of the prosecution to oppose the interim release based on the claim of his family members that he was not arrested but abducted when he was brought to the Hague and detained there.
She said the ICC should act based on the actions of the accused and not of his family.
Duterte’s children have filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning his arrest and subsequent extradition to the ICC in the Netherlands.
They said the ICC no longer has any jurisdiction over the Philippines after Manila withdrew from the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2018. The withdrawal was formalized in 2019.
The Vice President said that since her father is already requesting for interim release and signifying his intention to comply with all the obligations if his request is granted, it only means that “the accused himself submitted to the power of the court for interim release and whatever obligation he needs to comply.”
She added that there is no point in putting a provision for interim release in the ICC rules if it will not be granted to the accused, “especially someone who is already 80 years old.”
She said that while the ICC claims to champion human rights, the court does not seem to respect her father’s own human rights. “It seems like they are for human rights but they don’t provide it,” she said.
STAY IN THE NETHERLANDS
Remulla said it would be best if Duterte remains detained in the Netherlands.
“I think the case should be heard as soon as possible, and that there will be more harm than good that will come out of if [the request for interim release] is granted by the court,” he said.
He added: “The court itself knows it took a lot to be able to bring him before the Hague, before the ICC, and it’s not going to be easy to bring him back in case they lose possession of him or custody of him. So I think it’s better that it just hears the case with him present in the proceedings.”
He likewise said it would be better if the 80-year old former president stays where he is right now.
“It is impractical or unnecessary to get him released to another country. The way I look at it, the best medical care is there already available in the Netherlands and moving him might even cause a few more adjustments that may not be good for him,” he said. – With Wendell Vigilia
