Fw: Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus – G.R. No. (a ser atribuído) – Joaquim Pedro de Morais Filho v. Executive Secretary et al. – Urgent

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From: Joaquim Pedro de Morais Filho <pedrodefilho@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2026 7:36:39 AM
To: efile_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph <efile_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph>; support.ecourt@judiciary.gov.ph <support.ecourt@judiciary.gov.ph>; judicialrecordsoffice.sc@judiciary.gov.ph <judicialrecordsoffice.sc@judiciary.gov.ph>; pio@sc.judiciary.gov.ph <pio@sc.judiciary.gov.ph>; efile_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph <efile_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph>; digitalsubmissions_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph <digitalsubmissions_jro.sc@judiciary.gov.ph>
Subject: Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus – G.R. No. (a ser atribuído) – Joaquim Pedro de Morais Filho v. Executive Secretary et al. – Urgent

 

COMES NOW the Petitioner, JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO, of legal age, Brazilian national, residing at Rua Raimundo Mendes de Carvalho, 840, Icarai, Caucaia – CE, Brazil, CEP 61620-130, acting in his capacity as the duly authorized representative and next friend of the Aggrieved Party, former President RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, pursuant to Section 3, Rule 102 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Court of the Philippines, which expressly permits any person to file a Petition for the Issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of the party deprived of his liberty when the latter is unable to do so personally, and unto this Honorable Supreme Court of the Philippines, En Banc, most respectfully submits this Petition assailing the patently illegal, extra-constitutional arrest and forced rendition of the Aggrieved Party to the International Criminal Court on 11 March 2025, and praying for the immediate issuance of the Great Writ, the declaration of nullity of the rendition, and the compulsory repatriation of the Aggrieved Party to the Republic of the Philippines on the grounds of grave violation of due process and the inviolable privilege of the writ of habeas corpus guaranteed under Article III, Sections 1, 14 and 15 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Republic of the Philippines

Supreme Court

Manila

EN BANC

JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO,

(In his capacity as authorized representative and next friend of Former President RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE),

Petitioner,

- versus -

THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, THE SECRETARY OF JUSTICE, THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, and ALL PERSONS ACTING ON THEIR BEHALF OR IN CONCERT WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT,

Respondents.

G.R. No. _________________

FOR: ISSUANCE OF A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, DECLARATION OF UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF RENDITION, AND MANDAMUS TO SECURE REPATRIATION.

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Petition for the Issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus

COMES NOW the Petitioner, JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO, on behalf of the Aggrieved Party, Former President of the Republic of the Philippines, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, by and through the undersigned Special Counsel, unto this Honorable Supreme Court, most respectfully avers:

Prefatory Statement

The Great Writ of Liberty—the habeas corpus—is the ultimate bulwark of a free society against the arbitrary usurpation of liberty. When the sovereign apparatus of the Republic of the Philippines is weaponized, or maliciously bypassed, to unlawfully surrender a former Chief Executive to a foreign, supranational tribunal entirely bereft of jurisdiction, this Honorable Court must intervene.

This Petition assails the patently illegal, extra-constitutional, and arbitrary arrest of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 11 March 2025, and his subsequent forced rendition and continuing detention at The Hague, Netherlands, under the purported authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The deprivation of the Aggrieved Party's liberty constitutes an unconscionable affront to the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines, a gross violation of Article III, Sections 1, 14, and 15 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, and a severe breach of customary international law. By this Petition, the Court is implored to assert its supreme constitutional mandate, issue the writ, declare the rendition void ab initio, and compel the Respondents to immediately secure the Aggrieved Party's release and repatriation.

The Parties

Petitioner Joaquim Pedro de Morais Filho is of legal age, a Brazilian national, residing at Rua Raimundo Mendes de Carvalho, 840, Icarai, Caucaia - CE, Brazil, CEP 61620-130. He files this Petition as the authorized representative and next friend of the Aggrieved Party, pursuant to Section 3, Rule 102 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Court, which expressly permits the petition to be signed and verified "by some other person in his behalf."

Aggrieved Party Rodrigo Roa Duterte is of legal age, a Filipino citizen, and the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines. He is currently being illegally deprived of his liberty at the ICC Detention Centre in The Hague, Netherlands.

Respondents are the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of Justice, and the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), sued in their official capacities as the domestic custodians of Philippine sovereignty and law enforcement, whose acts or omissions facilitated the illegal surrender of the Aggrieved Party, and who possess the legal and diplomatic mandate to effectuate his return.

Statement of Material Facts

From 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2022, the Aggrieved Party served as the duly elected President of the Republic of the Philippines. All actions scrutinized by the ICC were undertaken during his tenure as the sitting Chief Executive, acting in defense of the realm and exercising the sovereign police power of the State.

On 17 March 2018, the Republic of the Philippines deposited its written notification of withdrawal from the Rome Statute. Pursuant to Article 127 of the Rome Statute, this withdrawal took full legal effect on 17 March 2019, permanently severing the Republic's treaty obligations and removing its citizens from the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Notwithstanding this sovereign withdrawal, on 11 March 2025, the Aggrieved Party was apprehended without a valid domestic warrant issued by any Philippine judicial authority. On 12 March 2025, he was extra-judicially transferred to the custody of the ICC.

On 26 January 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC issued a decision continuing his unlawful detention. Despite the absolute absence of any flight risk, the ICC Appeals Chamber, on 6 March 2026, confirmed this detention, perpetuating a grave deprivation of liberty.

Grounds for the Allowance of the Writ

I. THE ARREST AND RENDITION OF FORMER PRESIDENT DUTERTE VIOLATE ARTICLE III, SECTIONS 1, 14, AND 15 OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION AND RULE 102 OF THE RULES OF COURT.

Section 1, Article III of the 1987 Constitution declares: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Section 14(1) guarantees that no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law. Section 15 guarantees the inviolability of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

Under Sections 1 and 2, Rule 102 of the Revised Rules of Court, the writ of habeas corpus shall extend to all cases of illegal confinement or detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty.

The rendition of the Aggrieved Party to a foreign tribunal without the conduct of extradition proceedings before a competent Philippine court is a gross violation of domestic due process. In the landmark case of Secretary of Justice v. Lantion (G.R. No. 139465), this Honorable Court forcefully held that the basic principles of fairness and due process dictate that a person sought to be surrendered to a foreign jurisdiction must be given an opportunity to be heard in a domestic forum. A citizen of the Republic cannot simply be spirited away based on the mandate of a foreign body without the rigorous interposition of Philippine judicial scrutiny.

Furthermore, in Lansang v. Garcia (G.R. No. L-28089), this Court affirmed that the writ of habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action. The Executive Branch's complicity or acquiescence in the execution of an ICC warrant—without a Philippine judge determining probable cause—is the very definition of lawless state action. As ruled in Ilagan v. Enrile (G.R. No. 70748), even the invocation of national security or international obligation is not a blank check for indefinite detention without judicial recourse.

II. THE PHILIPPINES' WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ROME STATUTE EFFECTIVE 17 MARCH 2019 EXTINGUISHED ANY VESTIGE OF ICC JURISDICTION, RENDERING THE DETENTION ULTRA VIRES.

Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), a state's consent is the sine qua non of international legal obligations. The Philippines effectively withdrew from the Rome Statute under Article 127 thereof, effective 17 March 2019.

The acts imputed against the Aggrieved Party were sovereign acts of a sitting President executing domestic policy. To subject a former Head of State to a foreign tribunal for sovereign acts undertaken while the State is no longer a party to the treaty is an egregious violation of the fundamental principle of par in parem non habet imperium (equals have no sovereignty over each other).

III. THE ICC'S EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION VIOLATES THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPLEMENTARITY (ARTICLE 17 OF THE ROME STATUTE).

Assuming arguendo that the Rome Statute retains residual application, Article 17 enshrines the principle of complementarity. The ICC is a court of last resort, meant to intervene only when a national judicial system is genuinely unwilling or unable to carry out investigations or prosecutions.

The Philippine justice system is robust, independent, and fully operational. To allow the ICC to usurp Philippine judicial functions is to concede that the Republic's courts are impotent—a premise this Honorable Court must vehemently reject. The transfer of the Aggrieved Party bypasses the Philippine judiciary's exclusive jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed within its territory.

IV. THE DETENTION CONTRAVENES ARTICLES 9 AND 14 OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (ICCPR) AND CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Article 9 of the ICCPR guarantees that "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention." Article 14 ensures the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law.

The ICC, operating without jurisdiction over the Philippines, is not a tribunal "established by law" relative to a Filipino citizen in 2025. The Aggrieved Party's arrest contravenes customary international law prohibitions against arbitrary extradition without domestic due process.

V. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO RISK OF FLIGHT JUSTIFYING CONTINUED DETENTION.

The ICC's justifications for detention, specifically under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute, are factually baseless and logically flawed. The ICC Appeals Chamber's 6 March 2026 ruling heavily relied on purported "flight risk."

This assertion is vehemently disputed. The Aggrieved Party is a septuagenarian statesman with deep, inextirpable roots in the Philippines. He possesses no inclination, motive, or physical capability to flee justice. His entire legacy, family, and life are embedded in the Philippine archipelago. The allegation of flight risk is a mere pretext for political persecution, making his continued detention all the more cruel and disproportionate.

Prayer for Relief

WHEREFORE, premises considered, Petitioner most respectfully prays that this Honorable Supreme Court EN BANC:

1. IMMEDIATELY ISSUE A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS commanding the Respondents, their agents, or any entities acting in concert with them, to produce the body of the Aggrieved Party, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, before this Honorable Court;
2. DECLARE the arrest on 11 March 2025 and subsequent rendition of the Aggrieved Party to the International Criminal Court as unconstitutional, illegal, and void ab initio;
3. DIRECT the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Secretary to immediately assert Philippine sovereignty, demand the unconditional release of the Aggrieved Party from the ICC Detention Centre in The Hague, and facilitate his immediate repatriation to the Republic of the Philippines; and
4. GRANT such other relief as may be deemed just and equitable under the premises.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Done this 4th day of April 2026.

JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO
Petitioner / Authorized Representative for the Aggrieved Party

Rua Raimundo Mendes de Carvalho, 840, Icarai
Caucaia - CE, Brazil, CEP: 61.620-130
Email: pedrodefilho@hotmail.com
Contact: +55 85 99125-3990

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Verification and Certification of Non-Forum Shopping

I, JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO, of legal age, Brazilian national, after having been duly sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and state that:

1. I am the Petitioner in the above-entitled case, acting as the authorized representative and next friend of Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte;
2. I have caused the preparation of the foregoing Petition for the Issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus;
3. I have read and understood its contents, and the allegations therein are true and correct of my own personal knowledge and based on authentic records;
4. I have not theretofore commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency;
5. To the best of my knowledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or different divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency;
6. If I should hereafter learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency, I undertake to report that fact within five (5) days therefrom to this Honorable Court.

JOAQUIM PEDRO DE MORAIS FILHO
Affiant

Passport No. GD584268 (Brazil)
Issued: 20 Jan 2022 / Expires: 19 Jan 2032

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 4th day of April 2026. Affiant exhibited to me his valid Brazilian Passport as competent proof of identity.

NOTARY PUBLIC

Doc. No. _______;
Page No. _______;
Book No. _______;
Series of 2026.