Former President Rodrigo Duterte talks with his former Executive Secretary, Salvador Medialdea, on the chartered jet taking him to The Hague, in this photo released by Sen. Bong Go on Wednesday. (SEN. BONG GO/FACEBOOK)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police- Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) Director Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III revealed on Thursday that he arrested and handcuffed former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for alleged obstruction of justice following former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest.
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday morning under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for alleged crimes against humanity during his administration’s war on drugs.
At a Palace briefing, Torre said that Medialdea tried to block Duterte from boarding the chartered plane to the ICC headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
“Ang turning point talaga doon is noong time na talagang humaharang si [former] ES Medialdea at binigyan ko siya ng warning na talaga ‘sir, tapos na ito, kanina pa ang usapan, kaya sumakay ka na muna sa eroplano, kayo sa eroplano at saka na natin pag-usapan ang iba pa sa husgado na’,” Torres said.
(The real turning point was when [former] ES Medialdea was blocking the process, and I gave him a warning, saying, ‘Sir, this is over. The discussion ended earlier. So, just board the plane first, and we’ll talk about everything else in court.’)
“So, nag-insist si ES Medialdea, dared me to arrest him, and I did. So, binasahan ko siya ng kaniyang karapatan, in-arrest ko siya for PD 1829 at pinosasan ko siya,” he continued.
(So, ES Medialdea insisted, dared me to arrest him—and I did. I read him his rights, arrested him for PD 1829, and handcuffed him.)
Torre also said Duterte was never deprived of food, medical care, and legal assistance prior to his flight to The Hague, contrary to the claims of his daughter Veronica “Kitty” Duterte.
“There’s no deprivation whatsoever of legal counsel, as well as his medicine and food—that’s not true. We have provided all of those. In fact, his medical needs have been more than sufficiently met,” he said.
He also said Duterte was given “special treatment” during his stay at the airbase.
Torre quoted himself telling Duterte: “Tanungin kita, sir, ilan sa kanila ang dinala sa Presidential Lounge, dinalhan pa ng booking kit kung saan siya ay very comfortable na nakaupo? Kayo lang po, sir, ang special treatment na ito.”
The young Duterte also claimed her father was only provided one sandwich during his eight-hour flight from Manila to Dubai—their stopover prior to the final flight to the Netherlands.