PALACE FIRES BACK AT IMEE MARCOS OVER ICC RESOLUTION AS DUTERTE MARKS ONE YEAR IN THE HAGUE

One year after former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and flown to The Hague, his detention has become the latest fracture line between the Marcos siblings and the administration that shares their surname.

Senator Imee Marcos filed Senate Resolution No. 340 on Monday, March 10 — the eve of the first anniversary of Duterte's arrest on March 11, 2025.

The resolution demands full disclosure of all communications and directives between the Executive Department and the International Criminal Court related to Duterte's arrest and continued detention.

WHAT THE RESOLUTION SAYS

Imee Marcos used pointed language. The resolution describes Duterte's arrest as an "extraordinary rendition" and argues that his "unlawful deprivation of liberty constitutes a continuing violation that endures for as long as the restraint persists without valid legal and judicial basis."

The senator accused the government of failing to "provide accountability or meaningful redress for the ongoing impairment of FPRRD's constitutional and statutory rights."

She went further, claiming "conflicting statements" by key government officials "raise serious concerns on their candor and integrity."

And then the broader warning: "The Executive Department's persistent lack of transparency, its grave violations of the Bill of Rights, and its circumvention of the Philippine judicial system now give rise to serious and imminent concerns that similar actions may again be undertaken against the political opponents of the administration and retired police officials — thereby threatening to normalize the erosion of constitutional safeguard and the rule of law."

THE PALACE RESPONSE

The reply from the Presidential Communications Office came the same day.

Undersecretary Claire Castro did not hold back. She pointed out that Imee had previously issued a report on Duterte's arrest that the Palace considers "biased" — a report that recommended pursuing legal action against law enforcement officials involved in the turnover.

Castro then questioned the logic of filing a new resolution on the same topic, asking whether the claims in Imee's earlier report were "so flimsy and shallow" that a formal Senate resolution was now needed to advance them.

She pushed back on the framing of the resolution entirely, urging Imee and the Senate to consider the interests of the victims and complainants in the ICC's crimes against humanity case.

"They should be equitable and neutral for all Filipinos. There's a distinction between merely observing and intensely scrutinizing."

THE LEGAL BACKDROP

Duterte faces three charges of crimes against humanity before the ICC in connection with his administration's anti-drug campaign.

Government figures place the death toll from that campaign at a minimum of 6,000. Human rights organizations have put the number above 30,000, with victims including children as young as three years old.

The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, during Duterte's presidency. But the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes committed while the country was a member state — a period that began on November 1, 2011 and ended with the withdrawal taking effect on March 17, 2019.

Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, upon arrival at NAIA Terminal 3 from Hong Kong. He departed for The Hague the same evening.

THE FAMILY DIVIDE

What makes this politically unusual is the family dynamic. Imee Marcos is the sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The two have found themselves on opposite sides of the Duterte question repeatedly over the past year. The Palace has maintained that it will not intervene in ICC proceedings. Imee has consistently pushed for Duterte's release and questioned the legality of his arrest.

Resolution 340 is the latest escalation in that pattern — a formal Senate instrument filed by the president's own sister, directly challenging the executive branch's handling of a case the president has chosen not to block.

The ICC had previously barred Imee from visiting Duterte in his cell at the Scheveningen detention facility in The Hague.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The resolution calls for a Senate inquiry. Whether it gains traction in committee depends on whether other senators sign on.

The Palace has staked everything on fairness to the victims.

Imee has staked everything on constitutional rights.

One year in, neither side appears ready to give ground.