Baste, Honasan mulling petition to bring ex-president Duterte back to PH

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and former senator Gringo Honasan are planning to file a petition before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring back former president Rodrigo Duterte to the Philippines.

In a statement on Monday, Honasan said the petition will be filed through a people's initiative signature campaign.

“This petition is in accordance with the rules and regulations of the ICC, allowing the people to participate directly in the ongoing proceedings,” Honasan said.

“We aim to gather as many signatures as possible and extend invitations to other organizations to join us in our efforts to bring back Former President Rodrigo Duterte and uphold the sovereignty of our laws, courts, and the dignity of the Filipino nation,” he added.

 
Honasan met with Baste, son of the former president, in Davao City as part of his senatorial campaign.

The senatorial candidate described the elder Duterte’s arrest as a “slap in the face” and “betrayal of our nation's courts and laws."

“It is embarrassing for other countries and their citizens to know that we ourselves are turning our backs on our compatriot, our former President, and betraying him to the jurisdiction of the ICC, even though our courts are functioning and our laws are being upheld,” he said.

Honasan served as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology during the Duterte administration.

Earlier this month, Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague for his alleged crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s war on drugs. 

Duterte's children had filed separate petitions for the return of their father. 

Last week, Duterte's ICC-listed counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said the legal team plans to file a petition for Duterte's interim release.

In response, the camp of drug war victims said they would block the interim release of Duterte should he apply for it.

Meanwhile, international law experts said it is unlikely that the former president may be brought back to the Philippines to be tried before a Philippine court since he is already in The Hague.

Vice President Sara Duterte also acknowledged that her father might no longer return to the Philippines. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News