Malacañang brushes off Sara Duterte’s claims regarding dad’s arrest

Presidential Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro. Photo: Screengrab from RTVM

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang brushed off the statement of Vice President Sara Duterte saying President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should be held accountable for the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

At a briefing on Wednesday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro branded the statement “baseless,” reiterating that the arrest of the elder Duterte complied with the International Criminal Police Organization.

That echoed the explanation Marcos gave on the day of Duterte’s arrest on March 11.

READ: Duterte: I want to die in my country

“What the government did was not a surrender of sovereignty but rather a surrender of an accused.,” Castro said in Filipino.

“Let us repeat what the President said in SONA 2022, “I will not preside over any process that will abandon even one square inch of the territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power.” The President will not sell or surrender any part of our rights to the country to anyone,” she added.

VP Duterte made the remarks in an exclusive interview with GMA News on Tuesday.

“The President of the Philippines should really be held accountable because he allowed a foreign entity, a foreign organization, to interfere with our national sovereignty,” she said in mixed English and Filipino.

She remains firm that her father’s arrest would not push through without Marcos’ approval.

“What we call rendition or kidnapping or taking a citizen within his own country and taking him to a foreign jurisdiction to be imprisoned there, that wouldn’t happen without the approval of the President,” she also said.

Marcos officials to comply with the Ombudsman

In the same briefing, Castro said the officials required by the Office of the Ombudsman to submit a counter-affidavit in relation to the arrest and surrender of Duterte, will comply.

They are Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Chief Nicolas Torre III, and Special Envoy for Transnational Crimes Markus Lacanilao.

READ: Ombudsman starts probe of gov’t officials for role in Duterte arrest

“The said officials will respond and they will submit their counter affidavits. And again, we say, their actions are in accordance with the law,” Castro said.

The former president was arrested in Manila on March 11. He was flown the same day to The Hague, Netherlands, to face trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s drug war.

The elder Duterte made his first appearance at his pretrial hearing last March 14, three days after his arrest in Manila.

He was unable to attend physically and only participated in the pretrial via video link.

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