Sara Duterte has condemned the detention of her father Rodrigo Duterte as illegal
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was acting outside its jurisdiction when it arrested former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, his daughter Sara Duterte, currently vice president of the Philippines, has told RT.
In an interview on Wednesday, Duterte slammed the court for denying her father’s petition for interim release and accused the organization of serving political interests rather than justice.
Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in March 2025, six years after the Philippines left the ICC, at Manila’s international airport. He was extradited to The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign.
The ICC has asserted jurisdiction over the case, citing the fact that the Philippines was a member of the court from 2011 to 2019. Duterte has denied all allegations and called the arrest unlawful and “tantamount to kidnapping.”
Speaking to RT Sara Duterte rejected the legitimacy of the court’s actions, pointing out that the Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC in March 2019 and that the investigation only began two years after that. She has also claimed the number of alleged murders in the ICC case does not even meet the threshold for a crimes against humanity charge.
“The ICC is all about human rights and justice, but we don’t see it in the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte,” she said, noting that her father has already been in detention for more than 100 days without bail. She argued that the former president, now 80 years old, is not a flight risk and is in poor health. “He is at his thinnest,” she said. “He has no appetite, he is suffering from the cold, and he longs to be with family and familiar faces.”
Sara Duterte has claimed the case is politically motivated as her father was preparing to support senatorial candidates critical of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and that his arrest was intended to weaken political opposition.
The vice president herself is now also facing an impeachment process, which she said was engineered to block her from running in the 2028 presidential elections. She claimed that President Marcos doesn’t want to step down and intends to perpetuate himself and his family in power.
