‘Debt of gratitude’ should not hinder enforcing Duterte arrest – Palace

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro rejected on Monday, March 17, 2025, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has no sense of gratitude following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. | PHOTO: Screengrab from RTVM

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace rejected on Monday Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had no sense of gratitude following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, making it clear that having a debt of gratitude should not stop the government from enforcing and keeping its commitments to laws.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro made the statement in response to the Davao City mayor’s reminder to President Marcos that it was his father who allowed the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The younger Duterte cursed on Sunday President Marcos for the arrest and detention of his father, who is now facing trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity related to his administration’s war on illegal drugs that left thousands dead.

READ: Mayor Duterte curses Marcos over father’s arrest, detention in ICC

“Debt of gratitude should not stop the enforcement of the law, nor should it betray the enforcement of the law and the implementation of the commitment with Interpol,” Castro said in Filipino in a press conference.

“Debt of gratitude should not lead to ignoring the law or betraying the Constitution just because of friendship or past association,” she added.

Castro also said that Marcos already thanked Duterte back in 2016, when the former noted the latter’s efforts in allowing his father to be buried at the Cemetery of the Heroes.

Did gratitude get Yang appointed as adviser?

Meanwhile, Castro turned the tables on the Davao mayor as she questioned if “utang na loob” was the reason his father appointed Chinese businessman Michael Yang as his economic adviser.

“Is Mayor Baste Duterte’s mention of ‘utang na loob’ the reason why former President Duterte appointed Chinese national Michael Yang as his economic adviser?” Castro said.

“Isn’t this a betrayal, appointing a Chinese national as an economic adviser, and was this also because of ‘utang na loob’?” she added.

Castro was referring to Yang’s stint as Duterte’s economic adviser during his administration in 2018.

Apart from the controversy caused by Yang’s nationality, the businessman was also linked to the Pharmally scandal in 2021.

READ: Pharmally Scandal: When Middlemen profit even during a pandemic

Pharmally is the pharmaceutical corporation that was investigated by the Senate over alleged irregularities in government deals worth billions of pesos for COVID-19 response supplies despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000.