Instead of deliberating and adopting a resolution seeking house arrest for former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Senate should have tackled proposals for the country to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said on Thursday.
In a statement, De Lima said it seems that the country is still thinking backwards, as the Senate Resolution (SR) No. 144-a resolution signed by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano calling for Duterte’s interim release from ICC detention-was adopted on Wednesday.
The resolution was adopted after 15 senators voted in favor, with three opposing and two abstaining.
‘They should have discussed and voted on proposals to bring back the Philippines as an ICC member. But we are still backwards,’ de Lima said, referring to Duterte’s order in March 2018 to withdraw from the Rome Statute, which some government officials are discussing.
Progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), meanwhile, said the Senate resolution is a mere ‘display of political opportunism.’ According to the group, the ‘resolution invokes humanitarian concern for the unrepentant Duterte while ignoring the families of victims of extrajudicial killings who continue to demand justice.’
‘The senators who voted in favor of the resolution are complicit in the malicious attempts of the Duterte camp to spread disinformation about the case in order to delay and undermine the ICC trial,’ Bayan said.
‘As a sweeping probe into infrastructure corruption unfolds, many dating back to the Duterte presidency, senators entangled in the scandal and the architects of the ‘tokhang’ carnage are cynically using Duterte’s ICC detention to pander to the pro-Duterte crowd. Their goal is clear: to muddy the waters of public opinion, silence the clamor for truth and justice, and escape accountability,’ it added.
Bayan also said that the resolution might backfire as the ICC may treat the Senate’s move as proof of Duterte’s still strong influence in the country.
‘The ICC will likely consider the Senate resolution as glaring proof of the remaining influence of the former president in the country with his family and subordinates holding powerful positions in government. Thus, allowing Duterte to be placed under house arrest poses real danger to victims and witnesses of Tokhang and extrajudicial killings,’ Bayan noted.
Under SR No. 144, the Senate called on the ICC to allow the placing of Duterte under house arrest for humanitarian reasons, emphasizing that due to the former president’s advanced age and deteriorating health, a physician or medical doctor should be assigned to examine his health and ascertain if he is fit to withstand regular detention.
According to the resolution, ‘such house arrest, or a similar appropriate arrangement, will be subject to conditions restricting liberty to be imposed by the ICC, presenting no risk to the integrity of the ongoing trial.’
Duterte has been under ICC custody since March 2025. Last March 11, after coming home from Hong Kong, the ex-leader was stopped from leaving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 as local authorities assisted the International Criminal Police Organization in enforcing the ICC’s arrest order.
The warrant was issued due to complaints for the crime against humanity of mass murder, due to his role in his administration’s drug war.
There have been concerns about Duterte’s health, with legal counsel Nicholas Kaufman telling the ICC that the former president is suffering from cognitive deficiencies and is unable to recall events, places and even members of his close family, and even the defense team.
In a 13-page document dated September 11, Kaufman explained that the Duterte camp is seeking the adjournment of all legal proceedings due to his deteriorating health.
However, there is also some confusion regarding the real state of Duterte’s health. Last September 16, netizens pointed out that Vice President Sara Duterte, Duterte’s daughter, said her father is doing well.
The younger Duterte said she and her father discussed politics and the recent flood control mess in their conversation, along with his ‘love life.’ Netizens and observers claimed that this is proof that Duterte is well and is able to think properly.
While Duterte was praised for addressing the country’s drug problem, there were concerns from human rights advocates early on that there were rights disregarded in the implementation of the drug war.
After his administration, different bodies have initiated different investigations of the drug war, particularly allegations of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the conduct of the police operations, like Oplan Tokhang-a portmanteau of Visayan words ‘toktok’ or to knock, and ‘hangyo’ or to plead.
Despite Tokhang being just about knocking on doors, there were incidents where innocent individuals were killed during drug busts. In August 2017, 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was killed despite not being the original target of the anti-drug operation in Caloocan City. He was shot point-blank even if camera footage showed him pleading for his life.