Duterte lawyers still working on documents for interim release petition

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen on a screen in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, March 14, 2025. FILE PHOTO/Associated Press

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said lawyers defending former President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) were still working on the documents needed to support the petition they’re going to file seeking his interim release.

“The lawyers hadn’t filed the interim release request yet because they needed more documents to support it and the lawyer did not want to file the request when some documents were still lacking,” Duterte told reporters here in Filipino on Monday.

“They want to file the interim release petition with complete documents to support it. They are still working on it.”

The former president had been detained in the ICC facility in The Hague, Netherlands following his arrest in Manila in March this year for charges of crimes against humanity filed against him by families of victims of his drug war.

According to human rights watchdogs, the drug war claimed the lives of thousands of suspected drug users and criminals during his administration. Duterte’s lawyers, however, continued to question the ICC’s jurisdiction over the case after Duterte cut off the country’s membership in the international body in 2018.

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The ICC, however, cited a provision in the Rome Statute that allows them to try abusive regime within the period when the country was still a member.

In Duterte’s case, the ICC only investigated the cases of extrajudicial killings that happened in the country from 2011, when the country ratified the Rome Statute, hence, took effect in the country; and 2019, when Duterte’s move to cut off membership in the international body finally took effect.