Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s chances of securing house arrest while awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are slim due to the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2018, a lawmaker said on Friday.
Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon stated in response to a Senate resolution authored by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. The resolution urged the Philippine government to initiate talks with the ICC for Duterte’s interim release — a request that Ridon described as legally unfeasible.
“Non-party states, such as the Philippines, are under no obligation to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, including matters relating to the interim release of detained persons,” Ridon stressed. “The obligation to cooperate with the ICC ceased on 17 March 2019, one year after the Duterte administration announced the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute.”
The Rome Statute, which established the ICC, obliges member-states to comply with the court’s processes, including potential arrangements for temporary liberty or house arrest. However, Ridon emphasized that this cooperation ended when the Philippines formally exited the statute.
He further pointed out the irony of Cayetano’s appeal, reminding the senator that he served as Duterte’s Foreign Affairs Secretary when the withdrawal was announced. “It was Senator Cayetano himself who previously described the ICC pullout as a ‘principled stand’ against the politicization of human rights,” Ridon noted.
The ICC continues to investigate allegations related to Duterte’s controversial war on drugs, which reportedly led to thousands of deaths. Despite the Philippines’ withdrawal, the ICC maintains jurisdiction over cases involving crimes committed while the country was still a party to the statute.
Ridon explained that had the Duterte administration not withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the Philippine government might have had a legitimate path to negotiate house arrest or other forms of interim release under international legal frameworks. “This is not a possibility today as a result of the former President’s decision,” he said.
As the legal and political debate continues, experts say the situation underscores the long-term implications of Duterte’s decision to cut ties with the international tribunal — a move that now limits the country’s options in influencing or participating in ongoing ICC proceedings.