SEN. Alan Peter Cayetano has filed a resolution urging the Philippine government to request the International Criminal Court (ICC) to grant former President Rodrigo Duterte provisional release and house arrest at the Philippine Embassy in The Hague.

In filing the resolution, Cayetano, the former foreign affairs secretary of Duterte, cited the former president's advanced age, health, and extended isolation.

Cayetano contended that the 80-year-old Duterte should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and be permitted to wait trial in more humane circumstances.

Cayetano added that even if the Philippines had pulled out of the Rome Statute, it was still possible to have conditional agreements between the embassy and the ICC. He cited the case of Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, who was released on interim release by the ICC in 2009.

Duterte is detained in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.

Cayetano called for sympathy and respect for Duterte's past position, stating, "The Philippines at least owes its former president the return of his freedom and the proper arrangements to house him."(Jeo Ckaji Siwala, HNU Comm Intern)

• Tags
• #Alan Peter Cayetano
• #International Criminal Court
• #ICC
• #Rodrigo Duterte
• #Provisional Release
• #House Arrest
• #Philippine Embassy
• #The Hague
• #Jean-Pierre Bamba Gombo