Palace asks Imee to invite int'l law experts to Duterte arrest hearing

Malacañang on Tuesday asked Senator Imee Marcos to invite international legal experts in her inquiry into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

''Mas maganda po na makapagimbita pa siya ng international law experts para mas maliwanagan pa siya,'' Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said in a briefing.

(It's better if she invites international law experts so she's be enlightened.)

GMA News Online has sought comment from Senator Marcos but she has yet to reply as of posting time.

In her preliminary findings, Imee, sister of President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., underscored that there were supposedly glaring violations committed in the arrest of the former president.

The senator also slammed the absence of Cabinet officials in the second Senate committee hearing into the arrest as she floated the suspicion of a “cover up” in the events that transpired during the operations against Duterte.

This week, however, officials invited to probe will attend the hearing on April 10, according to Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero.

"Hindi ko lang alam kung sino specifically, pero hindi na sila hindi dadalo. May dadalo sa pagdinig ni Senator Imee sa April 10,” Escudero said.

(I’m not sure who among them specifically, but they will attend. Someone from them will attend the April 10 hearing.)

“Pero ang ni-request na specifically hindi pwede mawala ay si [Police Major General Nicolas Torre III] na yung kinomit,” he added.

(However, General Torre’s attendance was requested, which was committed.)

Senators earlier questioned Torre, director of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), over the manner of Duterte's arrest.

Torre has maintained that he arrested Duterte "properly."

Vice President Sara Duterte has also expressed willingness to attend the upcoming hearings on the arrest of her father.

Duterte was arrested on March 11 and surrendered to the International Criminal Court, with the plane carrying him to the Netherlands arriving the next day.

He is detained in The Hague for charges of crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings during his administration's war on drugs. —VAL, GMA Integrated News