One Year Na! Imee Marcos Demands Palace Fight for Duterte's Release From The Hague

Senator Imee Marcos is calling on Malacañang to bring former President Rodrigo Duterte home from detention at The Hague — and she's not mincing words about it. She filed Senate Resolution 340 on Monday, right on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Duterte's arrest by the International Criminal Court.

It was exactly March 11, 2025 when the ICC, working with Interpol, arrested Duterte to face charges related to the thousands of extrajudicial killings during his administration's controversial war on drugs. A year later, the senator says the government still hasn't provided "accountability or meaningful redress" for what she calls the violation of Duterte's constitutional rights.

Imee is demanding full transparency — she wants the Senate to push the Executive branch to disclose all communications, agreements, and operational directives related to cooperation with the ICC in Duterte's arrest and transfer. "Not even executive privilege can be invoked to conceal wrongdoings," she stressed.

The senator also raised alarms that what happened to Duterte could happen to other political opponents. She warned that the government's actions threaten to "normalize the erosion of constitutional safeguards and the rule of law," and called on the Palace to refrain from bypassing Philippine courts in any future ICC arrest warrants.

Meanwhile, Malacañang reiterated on Tuesday that the Philippines still has no plans to rejoin the ICC, with Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro saying "The President's stance has not changed." So habang naka-detain si Duterte sa The Hague, the Marcos administration is walking a tightrope — refusing to rejoin the ICC while facing mounting pressure from allies like Imee to bring the former strongman home.

Source: The Manila Times