VP Sara: Arrest of Rodrigo Duterte done to ‘demolish political opponents’

Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday maintained that her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was “illegally” arrested and was brought to The Hague, Netherlands only because of politics.

The Vice President, who attended the Senate foreign relations committee hearing virtually, claimed that the Marcos administration is using government resources and the International Criminal Court (ICC) “to demolish the opposition.”

“This was patently an illegal arrest. This constitutes extraordinary rendition—-a Filipino citizen, a former President, was taken into custody without a valid warrant issued by a Philippine court, without due process and without any legal basis under our laws,” the Vice President said.

“Nasaan po ang warrant of arrest na inissue ng hukuman ng Pilipinas? Wala. Without a valid warrant from a Philippine court, this was at best a warrantless arrest,” she added. 

(Where’s the arrest warrant issued by the Philippine court? There’s none.)

The Vice President said she is the only person in the Netherlands trying to make a way to have her father be brought back to the Philippines.

DND side

On the part of the Department of National Defense, Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said  the agency, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has no enforcement mandate and could only offer assistance to the arrest. 

“Our sole mandate is to give support to the Philippine National Police when it is asked for. And therefore, such ends our jurisdiction,” Teodoro said in a statement.

“The operation is clearly a law enforcement one, and the Philippine National Police has the power to ask the armed forces to assist. And that is the extent of the participation of my department and the [AFP],” he added.

The Defense chief also pointed out that all other matters in supporting the PNP are governed by operational security.

The Vice President had questioned why the AFP “stood idly by” while her father, a former commander-in-chief, was taken from a military base “under questionable circumstances.” 

“How could they allow a foreign tribunal to override on our constitutional guarantees? We have now lost a former president. I pray that we do not lose the country next,” Sara Duterte said. 

Authorities last Tuesday, March 11, served a warrant of arrest from the ICC against Rodrio Duterte for murder charges as a crime against humanity in connection with his deadly drug war that reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 6,000 people.

The former Philippine leader is currently in detention at the ICC prison at The Hague, Netherlands. He made his first appearance before the ICC on Friday, via video link.—AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News