Palace urges calm as Duterte supporters eye ‘zero remittance week’

Palace press officer Claire Castro urges supporters of Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, to remain calm as some of them plan to wage a week-long “zero remittance” campaign in protest of the arrest and detention of the former president in The Hague, Netherlands. —File photo from the Presidential Communications Office

MANILA, Philippines — Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte were advised to remain calm over their plans to mount protest actions after his arrest and detention in The Hague, Netherlands.  a Palace official said on Tuesday.

At a briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro was asked to comment on the planned “zero remittance week” of certain overseas Filipino workers in Europe.

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“Of course, we would prefer that every Filipino remains calm on this issue. Hopefully, they also understand that the government is simply enforcing our laws,” she responded in Filipino.

“If they choose not to send or remit money to their families, it’s not only the government that will be affected but also their own families. So, hopefully, we can remain calm in handling these kinds of issues,” she added.

On the other hand, Castro asked Filipinos protesting against Duterte to be fair in their perspective to prevent any undesirable consequences of their actions.

“I hope they will also be fair in their perspective so that any possible consequences of their actions can be lessened,” she said.

Duterte is currently in The Hague, Netherlands, for his impending trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s drug war.

His administration’s drug war claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.

However, human rights watchdogs estimated the death toll from the drug war to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.