MANILA – Malacañang denied keeping details about the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity.
According to Presidential Communications Office’s Undersecretary Claire Castro, Cabinet officials answered all the questions during the Senate hearing conducted by Sen. Imee Marcos two weeks ago.
“Wala pong tinatago. Sapat na po ang napakahabang oras nung unang hearing patungkol sa pag-surrender kay dating Pangulong Duterte sa ICC,” Castro said in a media briefing at the Malacañang Palace.
Castro added that the Cabinet secretaries already gave the needed details regarding Duterte’s arrest for Marcos to create a legislation.
“Sa pananaw po ng ating Cabinet secretaries ay sapat na po ang naibigay nilang facts, mga data na nagkaroon na nga siya ng preliminary findings,” Castro said.
“So hindi masasabi na hindi tinugunan ang mga katanungan kung itong (hearing) na ito ay in aid of legislation. Sapat na po iyon para makapagsagawa siya ng batas,” she added.
Marcos said on Tuesday that she received an official communication from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin regarding Cabinet officials’ plan to skip the second Senate investigation on Duterte’s arrest on Thursday.
“I received a letter from the ES saying that the Executive would not be attending the hearing on April 3,” Marcos said. “Nakakalungkot naman kasi alam ninyo maraming tanong pa rin. Bitin pa rin kasi preliminary report lang naman ang kinaya ko.”
“Ang dami nga nagti-text, nagtatanong. And there are new information. So for the answers that are confusing, that do not match, the next hearing is a chance to answer the queries of our people,” she added.
The senator said Bersamin invoked Executive Order 464 (EO 464) which provides for executive privilege, identifying the communication between the chief executive and Cabinet officials and the President’s advisers as privileged communications not for public disclosure.
The senator earlier said that the arrest of Duterte on March 11, on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC, violated the rights of the former president.
Duterte was flown to The Hague after his arrest and was placed in detention at the Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison for charges against him related to the killings under his administration’s war on drugs./PN
