Can Duterte serve from the Hague? Not our call, Comelec says

MANILA, Philippines — With former President Rodrigo Duterte poised to win the Davao mayoralty in the 2025 midterm elections, one question looms: Will he be allowed to serve his term while incarcerated at the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in the Netherlands?

According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), that is not for them to decide as the poll body has not yet acted on any petition submitted to them—with the complaint against Duterte being filed just days before the elections.

As of now, Comelec chair George Garcia confirmed that Duterte is not part of the 19 candidates whose proclamations, should they win, were suspended.

“Una po, wala kasi kaming, wala naman kasi tayong na-issue na kahit anong order to suspend proclamation, although may mga, I think may mga na-file po na kaso, hindi pa po kasi kumilos ’yong kaso, kaka-file lang no’ng isang araw, kung hindi tayo nakakamali, I think it was filed kung hindi Sabado o no’ng Friday,” Garcia told reporters on Monday, during an ambush interview at the Palacio del Gobernador.

(First of all we have not issued any order to suspend proclamation, although there are complaints, I think someone filed a case, but it has not moved yet because it was just filed days ago, if not Saturday it was filed last Friday.)

READ: Duterte camp mulls oath-taking options as detained ex-president runs for Davao mayor

“So wala pa ’yong raffle, wala pa tayong action ang division ng Comelec man lang, wala pang ang answer o kung anuman. And so mukhang hindi pa namin maaksyunan sa kasalukuyan,” he added. “Sa ating po’ng batas, sa atin pong rules, hangga’t walang order to suspend proclamation, ’yong isang kandidato na may kahit may kaso ay mapo-proklama po.”

(So it has not been raffled yet, we still do not have any action from a Comelec division, no answer or whatever. Under our laws and rules, as long as there is no order to suspend proclamation, a candidate who is facing cases can still be proclaimed.)

When asked if the Comelec will make any decision regarding Duterte’s case, Garcia said that will be up to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“Alam niyo, kung gano’n po, ang DILG na po ang bahala doon, kasi po kami po, as far as we are concerned, hanggang doon lang po kami sa ano eh, hanggang proclamation lang po kami, sa isang tao na nanalo,” he said.

(If that is the case, it will be up to the DILG, because as far as we are concerned, we only operate up to the level of proclaiming candidates who won.)

“So, basta po na-proklama na siya, matatapos na po ‘yong jurisdiction ng Commission on Elections, at kung makaka-upo po ‘yong isang tao, kung siya ay nakapanumpa o hindi, ang DILG po base po sa Local Government Code, ang bahala at in-charge na po sa ganyan,” he added.

(So, after he or she gets proclaimed, the jurisdiction of the Commission on Elections ends, and if gets to sit, if he is sworn into office or not, it is the DILG under the Local Government Code which will be in-charge of these things.)

Last March 11, Duterte was stopped from leaving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 after coming home from Hong Kong, as local authorities helped the International Criminal Police Organization in enforcing the ICC’s arrest order.

The ICC arrest order was issued due to the crimes against humanity raps filed against Duterte, for his role in his administration’s war against illegal drugs which was allegedly riddled with human rights violations.

Despite his arrest and incarceration at the Hague, Duterte still enjoyed the support in his hometown Davao City as he is poised to win the mayoral race. According to the partial, unofficial count from Comelec’s transparency servers, Duterte got over 626,000 voters—way ahead of his closest competitor, former Civil Service Commission chairperson Karlo Nograles.

Nograles was part of Duterte’s top officials, being a former cabinet secretary and acting spokesperson.