Palace has ‘no personal knowledge’ of Duterte arrest ‘mastermind’
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro during a press briefing with the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) on March 3, 2025. | PHOTO: Screengrab from RTVM
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace has “no personal knowledge” of who was the “mastermind” — a word it objected to — behind the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC), but stressed that it was carried out following the law.
“As to who gave the order, we have no personal knowledge of that. As to what was discussed [by authorities], we also have no personal knowledge of that,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said in Filipino in a press conference.
“If what should have happened has already happened, it was in accordance with the law,” she added, referring to the arrest.
Castro made the pronouncement when asked who the “mastermind” was in formulating Duterte’s arrest upon his arrival from Hong Kong on March 11.
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Castro questioned using the term “mastermind,” saying: “We have to correct that. Did we hear anyone say ‘mastermind’? For us, it has a somewhat negative ring – like it has something to do with the mafia.”
Asked if this meant Maj. Gene. Nicolas Torre III, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, acted on his own in arresting Duterte, Castro responded: “I did not say that. What I only said was that we have no personal knowledge of what was discussed.”
The term “mastermind” was mentioned during a Senate panel hearing on foreign affairs. However, it was used when Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla refuted claims that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his Cabinet members orchestrated the arrest of the former president during a meeting.
“There was no mastermind. We were discussing mainly about what the [former] president’s statements were in Hong Kong, and it was based all on that statement,” Remulla said in the hearing.
