President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not ask for the resignation of Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra after the latter declined to represent the government in the consolidated petitions for habeas corpus filed by the Duterte siblings.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said Mr. Marcos would not ask Guevarra to resign over his recusal.
“When I asked the President if SolGen would resign, he said, ‘I am not asking for his resignation.’ So, that’s all he said. So his trust in SolGen Guevarra is still there,” Castro said.
Castro said Mr. Marcos had already talked to Guevarra after the latter’s recusal from the petitions questioning the arrest and transfer of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
The Department of Justice had to step in for the OSG and asked the Supreme Court to deny the petitions for being moot and lacking merit, noting that the ultimate purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is “to relieve a person from unlawful restraint.”
“The writ exists as a speedy and effectual remedy to relieve persons from unlawful restraint and as an effective defense of personal freedom. It is issued only for the lone purpose of obtaining relief for those illegally confined or imprisoned without sufficient legal basis. It is not issued when the person is in custody of a judicial process or a valid judgment,” the DOJ said in its comment.
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus is already moot because respondents no longer have legal and physical custody of former President Rodrigo Duterte.”
Guevarra earlier maintained his decision to decline to represent government officials in the habeas corpus case was not personal despite having served as Justice secretary during the Duterte administration.
“The OSG represents the interest of the republic vis-a-vis the ICC and no other interest. Our recusal is not personal – it is institutional,” Guevarra said. “The OSG’s position will remain the same irrespective of the personalities involved. It is the Republic’s position.”
“The President alone can say if he still trusts me,” he added.
SC spokesperson Camille Ting said the High Court has directed the Duterte siblings “to personally file a traverse in response to the consolidated compliance (DOJ comment) within a non-extendible period of five days from receipt of notice.”
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, and Veronica Duterte filed the petitions for habeas corpus before the SC.
Among the respondents in the petitions were the Justice chief, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, and PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Director Nicolas Torre III, among others.