Lawyer Salvador Panelo, legal counsel of Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, the youngest daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, filed an urgent motion before the Supreme Court, pressing it to immediately resolve the consolidated habeas corpus petitions questioning the legality of the former president’s arrest and subsequent surrender.
The petition seek judicial clarification on the circumstances surrounding the former president’s detention, arguing that his constitutional rights may have been violated in the process.
The motion emphasizes the “urgent and continuing deprivation of liberty” allegedly suffered by the former chief executive.
The Supreme Court earlier consolidated multiple petitions related to Duterte’s case, but no final ruling has been issued to date.
In March this year, the younger Duterte insisted that her petition for her father’s release before the Supreme Court remains valid despite his detention under the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
In a 34-page response, she maintained that Philippine authorities could still be ordered to secure the return of her father from the ICC’s custody, rejecting arguments that her petition had become moot.
“Petitioner hereby reiterates that the respondents should not be allowed to escape the extraordinary writ of habeas corpus by simply claiming that FPRRD is no longer in their custody,” she said in her petition.
Kitty further argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines following the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
She said this lack of jurisdiction renders her father’s arrest and transfer to The Hague illegal.
