Metro Manila, Philippines – The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was not planned or orchestrated by a group, the national security adviser told a Senate hearing on Thursday, March 20.
“May I state for the record that I am not aware of any core group nor am I part of any group that allegedly planned and prepared for the arrest of former President Duterte,” Eduardo Año told the Senate committee on foreign relations.
“I firmly deny any allegations of a grand conspiracy. The events on March 11 were spontaneous. As national security adviser, I was merely doing my job,” he added, referring to the day of Duterte’s arrest.
The supposed plan was raised in the hearing based on a TV interview that showed Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla disclosing in an interview that the national security adviser played a “key role” in the group that planned Duterte’s arrest.
Remulla said others in the group were President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, apart from himself and Año.
In the same Senate hearing, however, Remulla denied the existence of a group and that a plan was prepared, but admitted that a meeting took place before Duterte’s arrest.
“I did not state in any way who planned it. The meeting was of executive privilege. It was a conversation between the president and the ones I mentioned,” Remulla said.
The International Criminal Police Organization, with the assistance of local authorities, arrested Duterte on March 11 for murder on crimes against humanity. He was detained at The Hague, Netherlands on the same day.
The former president will face the ICC pre-trial chamber again on Sept. 23 to confirm the charges against him.
NewsWatch Plus Intern Martha Mayoralgo contributed to this report
