Daven Tamayo

'Blatant affront to our sovereignty': Sara Duterte decries father's arrest

Vice President Sara Duterte attends the attends the House quad committee hearing on the extrajudicial killings, addressing alleged human rights violations from her father former president Rodrigo Duterte administration’s war on drugs on November 13, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA -- Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denounced the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling it a &quot;blatant affront to our sovereignty&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Today, our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen—even a former President at that —to foreign powers. This is a blatant affront to our sovereignty and an insult to every Filipino who believes in our nation’s independence,&quot; she said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MayorIndaySaraDuterteOfficial/posts/pfbid0Zm1wrkLicYFMSjv9MaH79a2L8bV6kwnmKRMNvWq2HxqXpXZHPuKhFgu1nPDguvsGl">statement</a>.</p><p>The Vice President also claimed that her father was being denied of his fundamental rights.</p><p>&quot;Worse, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is being denied his fundamental rights. Since he was taken this morning, he has not been brought before any competent judicial authority to assert his rights and to allow him to avail of reliefs provided by law. As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice—this is oppression and persecution,&quot; Vice President Duterte added.</p><p>The younger Duterte likewise called the act as a &quot;betrayal&quot; of the country&#x27;s sovereignty and national dignity.</p><p>&quot;This act shows the world that this government is willing to abandon its own citizen and betray the very essence of our sovereignty and national dignity. God save the Philippines,&quot; she added.</p><p>Former President Duterte was arrested by police officers on Tuesday acting on a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his war on drugs, shortly after he arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong. </p><p>Duterte, 79, faces a charge of &quot;the crime against humanity of murder&quot;, according to the ICC, for the crackdown in which rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.</p><p>The Presidential Communications Office said the INTERPOL Manila received the official copy of warrant of arrest from ICC before dawn on Tuesday. </p><p>The Prosecutor General served the ICC notification for the arrest warrant on Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity after he landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the PCO said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/dozens-of-cops-at-naia-ahead-of-rodrigo-duterte-s-expected-arrival-0951">Ex-President Duterte arrested on ICC warrant for alleged crimes against humanity</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/what-we-know-about-ex-president-rodrigo-dutertes-arrest-1718">What we know about ex- president Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s arrest</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/war-on-drugs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">War on Drugs, The Unheard Voices | ABS-CBN News</a></div>

<p>Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denounced the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling it a "blatant affront to our sovereignty".</p>

Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denounced the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling it a "blatant affront to our sovereignty".