The OSG filed a Manifestation and Motion on March 17, 2025, stating its firm position that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the Philippines.
The petitions (G.R. Nos. 278763, 278768, and 278798) contest the ICC’s warrant of arrest against Duterte, which was executed on March 11, 2025.
The Supreme Court, in a Resolution dated March 13, 2025, ordered key government officials—including Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Interior Secretary Juan Victor Remulla, and PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil—to justify Duterte’s arrest within 24 hours, a deadline that was later extended to March 17 due to the weekend.
“Considering the OSG’s firm position that the ICC is barred from exercising jurisdiction over the Philippines and that the country’s investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial system is functioning as it should, the OSG may not be able to effectively represent Respondents in these cases and is constrained to recuse itself from participating herein,” the OSG stated in its motion.
The OSG cited the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, effective March 17, 2019, as the basis for its decision.
Government Officials Must Seek New Legal Counsel
With the OSG stepping away from the case, government officials named as respondents—including Bersamin, Remulla, and Marbil—must arrange alternative legal representation.
This could mean hiring private legal counsel or tapping other government lawyers to comply with the Supreme Court’s March 13, 2025, order, which requires them to respond by today’s deadline.
The OSG’s recusal leaves the government’s defense against the ICC arrest warrant uncertain, as the Duterte family pushes forward with its legal battle to bring the former president back to the Philippines.
