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MANILA, Philippines – Her survey numbers putting her in a precarious position, reelectionist Senator Imee Marcos is nevertheless hitting pause — at least, for a day — in her national campaign on Thursday, March 20.
Stronger is her desire to “establish whether due process was followed and to ensure that [former president Rodrigo Duterte’s] legal rights were not [just] upheld but protected” in his arrest and turn over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The senator, older sister to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who green-lit Duterte’s arrest, chairs the Senate committee on foreign relations.
It’s “an issue that has deeply divided the nation,” Senator Marcos, known to be a close ally of the Davao-based Dutertes, said in a March 17 statement.
For the hearing, the committee has invited a long list of officials — from the heads of the justice, foreign affairs, and defense departments, to agencies that enforced the arrest warrant from the ICC, such as the Philippine National Police, among others.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 after the ICC issued a warrant against him as an “indirect co-perpetrator” of crimes against humanity. Patriarch of a clan that’s controlled Davao City and had considerable influence over the Davao Region and much of Mindanao, he is alleged to have ordered extrajudicial killings as the supposed boss of the Davao Death Squad when he was mayor, and as president of the Philippines ordering a war on drugs.
In his presidential term alone, human rights groups estimated that 27,000 were killed in his war on drugs both in police operations and by hired guns.
Within the day of his arrival in Manila after attending a rally of supporters in Hong Kong, Duterte was flown to The Hague to face the ICC. The Philippine government, including President Marcos himself, said they acted on the warrant because of commitments to cooperate with and assist International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
Duterte supporters online and offline have branded his arrest a “kidnapping,” framing the strongman from Davao as a “victim.”
“The Senate must address these critical concerns to uphold the country’s jurisdiction and to clarify policies governing our law enforcement agencies and their engagement with international tribunals,” Senator Imee said on March 17.
She added, “Our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount.”
Yet public officials — from the national police, interior department, and the justice department — have already come out on record since Duterte’s March 11 arrest. They explained the legal basis for the former president’s arrest, as well as the government’s unchanged stand that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Philippines, but that we have commitments to the Interpol.
Rappler has compiled answers to the most common questions about Duterte’s arrest here. You can also find a director of all the explainers and analyses on the ICC and Duterte’s arrest here.
Senate hearings during a break?
In a press briefing on Monday, Senate President Chiz Escudero said he allowed Senator Marcos’ committee to hold a hearing during the congressional break because the upper chamber had not yet amended its rules on motu proprio hearings, which were once limited to those under the Senate blue ribbon committee.
“Hindi pa namin naaamyendahan ’yung rule na nililiwanag o ipinagbabawal ’yan. So, sa ngayon, ang rules ng Senado, puwedeng mag-conduct ng motu proprio na hearing ng kahit na anong komite,” Escudero clarified.
(We have not yet amended the rule that clarifies or prohibits that. So, for now, the Senate rules allow any committee to conduct a motu proprio hearing [during a break].)
The Senate President, a friend of President Marcos, said that if Senator Imee’s goal for her hearing is to unite the divided camps, she has his full support.
“Sana ang maging dulo ng kanyang pagdinig ay maghilom tayo at magkaroon ng pagkakaisang muli at hindi lalo pang dagdagan ’yung divisiveness o pag-aaway-away natin. Kung ’yun ang pakay niya, sang-ayon ako sa pakay na iyon,” Escudero said.
(I hope her hearing in the end will bring healing and unity once again, and not further add to our divisiveness or infighting. If that is her goal, I agree with that.)
Before Thursday’s hearing, the Senate had held other high-profile hearings, including a hearing on the escape of Alice Guo from the Philippines, led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, and the collapse of the Cabagan-Sta. Maria bridge in Isabela, led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.
The hearing on Guo’s escape was conducted by the justice committee, while the bridge collapse was handled by the blue ribbon committee.
2025 and the Marcos dynamics
Senator Imee has long tried to tread the line between being a Marcos who isn’t part of the President’s inner circle and being a staunch supporter of the Duterte clan. (READ: Imee’s choice: Through thick and thin, I’ll stick with the Dutertes)
Malacañang has said that it would cooperate with the probe and not bar any official called upon to speak before the Senate. “If the inquiry is in aid of legislation, we will respect the request of Senator Imee,” said Presidential Communications Undersecretary Clarissa Castro in a briefing on March 17.
The senator, who is seeking reelection in the 2025 polls, is a candidate under her brother’s admin-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas. She said she was withdrawing from the lineup, but was dutiful in attending the slate’s first batch of rallies anyway.
Yet it was Senator Marcos who made a public splash about being against the administration’s decision to send Duterte to The Hague. She skipped Alyansa’s campaign rally in the Romualdez bailiwick of Tacloban City, the first held after Duterte’s arrest.
Advisers, including the unsolicited kind, had earlier told Senator Imee that her survey numbers were struggling since voters were having a hard time determining where she stood — if she was allied with the Marcos clan or the Duterte clan.
By the time the national campaign kicked off on February 11, the rift between the once-allied clans had turned into a chasm — especially after the Marcos-controlled House voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, a close ally and friend of Senator Marcos and daughter to Rodrigo Duterte.
In the February 2025 Pulse Asia senatorial preference survey, Senator Marcos ranked 14th, outside the winning circle. This comes after she saw a boost in the January 2025 iteration of the survey held just before the national campaign officially began. – Rappler.com
