The Marcos administration reiterated it merely complied with the law, international obligations.
2025.03.27
Manila
Marcos’ sister: Philippine govt committed ‘glaring’ violations in ex-leader Duterte’s ICC arrest
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen on a screen in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, March 14, 2025.
Peter Dejong/Reuters
The arrest and transfer of ex-Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court was illegal, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s sister alleged as she openly distanced herself politically from her brother.
The government ignored Duterte’s rights as a Philippine citizen when it arrested him on an ICC warrant and sent him to The Hague, Sen. Imee Marcos said as she detailed preliminary findings of a probe by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which she chairs.
“[T]here were glaring violations of the rights of the former president” when he was arrested and turned over to the ICC, said Sen. Marcos, who is seeking reelection this May.
Last week, the senator led a hearing where officials from the Marcos administration were grilled about the March 11 arrest of Duterte tied to allegations that he had committed crimes against humanity through his past war on illegal drugs.
“The constitutional safeguards guaranteeing liberty and due process of law were not observed,” Imee Marcos said, noting that no local court had issued an arrest warrant against the former president.
“The constitutional safeguards for the right to liberty of abode were also disregarded.”
In response, presidential spokesperson Claire Castro reiterated that the administration’s action in arresting and turning Duterte over to the ICC was above board.
“[We just] followed what is stated in the law and our obligations to Interpol,” Castro told the press at the Malacañang palace in Manila.
Castro also said the president’s sister should conduct her probe “fairly.”
“She should also investigate and, as much as possible, make a resource person out of those who believe in the administration’s decision to surrender former President Duterte to the ICC,” Castro said.
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EXPLAINED: Why did the ICC arrest ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte?
Sen. Marcos is known to be a friend of Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter, who has been impeached and is feuding with President Marcos.
On Wednesday, the president’s sister formally withdrew from the administration’s senatorial slate, saying the actions taken by its officials ran “counter to my ideals and principles.”
“The Philippines had no legal obligation to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte and turn him over to the International Criminal Court,” Sen. Marcos said on Thursday.
“This is beyond the Duterte and Marcos (families), what we are talking about here is the sovereignty of the country,” the senator said, adding that she had yet to meet with her brother to iron out their differences.
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Supporters of ex-Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte stage a protest in Manila to denounce his arrest, March 25, 2025. (BenarNews/Jason Gutierrez)
Hours after arresting him, Philippine authorities put Duterte on a private jet that flew him to the Netherlands, where he will face the charge of the crime against humanity of murder.
During Duterte’s term as president (2016-2022), he launched an anti-narcotics crackdown that left more than 6,000 suspected drug dealers and addicts dead. The figure could be higher, ranging from 20,000 to 30,000, human rights groups said.
The Marcos and Duterte families, the leading political dynasties in the country, joined hands in an alliance to win the general election in 2022, but the partnership ended acrimoniously amid pressure on the Marcos administration to allow an ICC investigation into Duterte’s drug war.
The Duterte family still retains near cultish loyalty from followers, especially in the southern regions, a factor analysts said could come into play in the May midterm polls.
Sen. Marcos said her actions were not motivated by the elections but by the current administration’s alleged effort to hide “essential facts.”
“Beyond their constant narrative that the Philippines was simply complying with its international commitments, a deliberate effort to obscure the truth only gave rise to ever greater suspicion that the Constitution may have been disregarded and our sovereignty diminished by the arrest,” Sen. Marcos said.
Sen. Marcos said she had quit the ruling party’s senatorial lineup because she wanted to “maintain my independence,” but sidestepped questions on whether she was feuding with her brother.
“Over and above political advantage, the sovereignty of the country and the interest of true justice for every Filipino must remain paramount,” Sen. Marcos said, adding it was not her intention to be “anti-administration.”
Still, she said the administration was upset with her and her hearing into the former president’s arrest.
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Various groups hold a “Black Friday” protest and march from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, in Metro Manila, to the nearby Miriam College, to demand justice for all victims under the anti-narcotics campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte, March 14, 2025. (Gerard Carreon/BenarNews)
In that hearing, Sara Duterte testified from The Hague where she has been supporting her father in his legal defense. The vice president was given the chance to rebuke administration cabinet officials and testified that her father’s arrest appeared to be a coordinated move to silence those opposing the president.
“This was patently an illegal arrest,” Vice President Duterte said. “This constitutes extraordinary rendition.”
The term “extraordinary rendition” evokes an extrajudicial practice implemented by the George W. Bush administration in the United States after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Suspected terrorists were detained without court warrants and flown to so-called CIA “black sites” overseas, where many were interrogated and tortured. Many of them were later taken for imprisonment at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.