MANILA -- International law experts and professors believe that the Supreme Court will delicately balance Philippine laws in relation to international statutes as former President Rodrigo Duterte remains detained in The Hague, The Netherlands for crimes against humanity of murder. 

In a forum held Friday at the University of the Philippines College of Law, lawyer Theodore Te noted the recent actions of the Supreme Court - not issuing a temporary restraining order against the Philippine government and instead asking for comment from officials involved in the arrest and transfer of Duterte to the ICC 

“The court is a practical court, they will realize, I think they will see the extent of what they can do given the circumstances at hand. But I think the initial way they dealt with the petitions gives us a hint to how they would prefer to handle the situation,” Te said. 

Currently pending before the Supreme Court are petitions for habeas corpus, asking for the return of the former President to the Philippines, filed by Duterte siblings Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo, Davao City Mayor Sebastian and Veronica or Kitty Duterte. 

Also pending is the petition for certiorari filed by the former President and Senator Ronald Dela Rosa questioning the constitutionality of the coooperation of the Philippine government with the ICC, in light of the 2019 withdrawal of the Duterte administration from the Rome Statute. 

Lawyer Michael Tiu said the Supreme Court may act in the context of the “Charming Betsy” canon where a local law is interpreted in such a way it does not conflict with international laws. 

“The US Supreme Court, when it was confronted by international law, has this Charming Betsy case, they will try to construe domestic proceedings in a way that are consistent with international law obligations,” Tiu said. 

The forum was also attended by retired International Criminal Court judge Raul Pangalangan who enumerated differences between ICC processes and local court proceedings. 

Pangalangan noted that the ICC does not allow trial in absentia and it values the safety of witnesses. 

“At the ICC, the witnesses are highly protected, we call upon witnesses fully knowing they are testifying at great risk,” Pangalangan said. 

Tiu also noted that under the Rome Statute, Duterte can ask for an interim release which his lawyer can work on. 

“Specify an address and not go beyond certain parameters or radius, there will be freedom of movement but pretty limited,” Tiu said. 

Lawyer Ruby Rosselle Tugade also debunked the criticism that there are only a number of cases of extra-judicial killings attributed to Duterte in his ICC case as the pattern of killings is more important. 

“There is no threshold number as to the required number of victims that would make it a crimes against humanity case,” Tugade said. 

Te also believes that legal processes were observed during the arrest of the former President. 

“I would say that yes by the book and I hope I don’t get sanctioned by the Supreme Court, but this part of my academic freedom but yes it went by the book so I don’t think there were any irregularities in that sense,” Te said. 

Pangalangan also said critics of the arrest should not invoke a provision in the Rome Statute that there should have been a local court involved, precisely because the country is no longer a member of the ICC. 

He also noted that the argument that Philippine courts can try Duterte does not hold water. 

“Well I think the fact is, there is no such case against Duterte in the Philippines, and therefore what complementarity are we talking about, there simply is no case in the Philippines. 

Pangalangan also does not believe that the ICC will grant Duterte a house or hospital arrest because he has personally seen the facilities in its detention center. 

“The diet is culturally and religiously, attuned to cultural and religious needs, so maybe now they should start shopping for rice or some Filipino goodies, so for me the scenario of using the medical excuse for some VIP arrangement I don’t think it is viable in the ICC situation,” Pangalangan said.