Palace on Duterte’s arrest: Nothing personal

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang refuted anew allegations that former President Rodrigo Duterte's surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) stemmed from the Marcos-Duterte rift, stressing that the arrest was nothing personal.

At a briefing on Thursday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that the administration merely complied with its obligations to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)—  an explanation she has repeatedly cited since Duterte’s arrest.

READ: Imee Marcos leaves Bongbong-backed Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas

Earlier in the day, Sen. Imee Marcos presented a timeline of events showing that the administration changed its stance from allegedly not cooperating to cooperating with the ICC after the relationship between the two clans turned sour.

“For us, when the government, the administration, carried this out, it followed nothing but what is stated in the law and our obligations to Interpol,” Castro said in Filipino.

She encouraged Senator Marcos to be fair in leading the Senate probe into Duterte’s arrest.

“If she is investigating someone else, as we said, she should conduct her investigation fairly. She should also investigate and, as much as possible, make a resource person out of those who believe in the administration's decision to surrender former President Duterte to the ICC,” Castro said.

“We are not taking this personally. We are simply following what the law states and fulfilling our obligations and commitments to Interpol. That is all we are doing — nothing personal,” she added.

According to Castro, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is still mum about the status of his relationship with his sister Imee.

“On the part of the president, we cannot say that there’s a rift in the relationship of the two siblings. So, let’s just wait if the president has anything to say. But based on his personality, he is not the type to be easily offended. You know, he doesn’t take things personally,” Castro said.

President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte ran under the UniTeam banner in the 2022 national elections, but their political alliance has since been severed with Duterte’s resignation from her post as education secretary last year.

READ: VP Duterte questions Marcos’ ability to lead, think clearly

Speculations about their fallout were further fueled when the vice president said she had instructed someone to kill the president, his wife, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she would be assassinated.

Meanwhile, following her father’s arrest, Vice President Duterte threw tirades against the president’s ability to lead and think clearly.

Former President Duterte was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11 and flown on the same day to The Hague, Netherlands, where he is currently being held pending his trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration's drug war.

The former president had his pretrial hearing on March 14, while his confirmation of charges was scheduled on September 23.

He may appeal for an interim release before that date.

(2025/03/27-16:33)