Palace on Sara Duterte's 'traitor' remark: Rodrigo to blame for ICC detention

Malacañang on Thursday rejected Vice President Sara Duterte's claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a "traitor" to the Philippines, saying her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, has only himself to blame for his detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Marcos Jr. was still a private citizen when the first complaint against the former president was filed before the ICC. "This is not President Marcos Jr.'s fault. The president is only following the law. If anyone should be blamed, it is no one but her own father because of his admissions that he himself killed and ordered killings, along with his co-perpetrators," Castro said. Duterte made the remark in a speech before supporters of her family in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 29, accusing Marcos Jr. and former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV of helping the ICC pursue the crimes against humanity case against her father. "How do we characterize Trillanes and Marcos in relation to ICC?" Duterte asked. After her supporters shouted "traitors," Duterte replied: "Yes, they are traitors to a Filipino and to the country." Duterte also accused the ICC of being a "lapdog" of Marcos Jr. and Trillanes. Castro said Duterte's claims were baseless and untrue, adding that the vice president may have made the remark out of frustration over her father's case. "Perhaps she is only saddened because the ICC is an impartial court that cannot be influenced or intimidated by threats of harm or any form of violence," Castro said. The first complaint against Rodrigo Duterte over alleged crimes against humanity was filed before the ICC in 2017 by lawyer Jude Sabio, counsel for self-confessed Davao Death Squad hitman Edgar Matobato. At the time, Marcos Jr. was pursuing an electoral protest against then-Vice President Leni Robredo after losing the 2016 vice presidential race.