The camp of Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, the youngest daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has urged the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve her pending petition seeking the return of her father to the country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention in The Hague, Netherlands.
Through legal counsel, the younger Duterte filed a motion to resolve the case before the high court on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. She noted that the SC has taken no substantive action even after 14 months since they filed the petition for habeas corpus, a court order that demands the presentation of an imprisoned person to the court and show good cause for their detention, and six months since their first urgent motion to resolve.
Among the respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Rommel Marbil, and PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Major General Nicolas Torre III.
“Respectfully, the continued inaction of this Honorable Court on the petitions, now extending far beyond any reasonable period, undermines the writ and effectively denies the very liberty it seeks to protect,” Kitty said in her motion to resolve. “It also erodes public trust in the judiciary’s role as the ultimate guardian of constitutional rights. It almost amounts to a de facto suspension of the privilege of the writ, far more alarming than any formal suspension permitted under the Constitution,” she added.
Also cited in Kitty’s motion is Senate Resolution 44, which expressed the sense of the Senate to protect Filipinos against “extrajudicial rendition” or immediate surrender to foreign jurisdictions without exhausting local legal remedies.
Duterte was arrested in March 2025 and was immediately flown to The Hague on the basis of the arrest warrant issued against him by the ICC in relation to its ongoing investigation on the alleged crime against humanity in the country during the implementation of his bloody drug war, which left over 6,000 alleged drug personalities dead. He was charged with the following crimes:
- Murders in or around Davao City during the mayoral period 2013 to 2016 by the Davao Death Squad involving 19 victims alleged to be criminal, including three children.
- Murders of high-value targets during the Presidential period (2016 to 2017) involving 14 victims.
- Murders and attempted murders in barangay clearance operations during the presidential period (2016 to 2018) covering 45 victims.
Kitty filed the second motion to resolve amid the impending service of arrest warrant to Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was identified by the ICC as an indirect co-perpetrator of Duterte for the crime against humanity of murder in the Philippines.
After around six months of absence from the Senate, Dela Rosa showed up in the Senate on Monday, May 11, 2026, where elements from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) allegedly prevented him from going inside the hall, resulting in a staircase chase. Dela Rosa is currently under the chamber’s protective custody until he is able to exhaust all legal remedies to protect himself and until this institution is able to do just the same. Dela Rosa’s legal counsel sought the intervention of the SC for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the lawmaker’s arrest.
Meanwhile, in an interview in The Hague, Kitty’s sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, criticized those seeking the voluntary surrender of Dela Rosa to the ICC. “Hindi iyan panawagan ng kahit sinong tao dahil ang isang warrant of arrest not issued by a Philippine court cannot be implemented in the Philippines,” she said. “Nalulungkot ako dahil inuuna ang personal na interes ng iba’t ibang politiko at nalulungkot ako dahil napapabayaan yung mga kababayan natin na nangangailangan ng tulong sa panahon ng paghihirap. Nakakalungkot na mula sa pagkakaisa, ay nagkawatak-watak tayo dahil sa personal na interes ng politiko,” she added. (I am saddened because the personal interests of various politicians are being prioritized, and I am saddened that our fellow citizens who need help during times of hardship are being neglected. It is unfortunate that from unity, we have become divided because of politicians’ personal interests.)
Five senators from the minority bloc have filed a resolution urging Dela Rosa to voluntarily surrender in relation to the arrest warrant issued against him by the ICC.
