(UPDATE) SEBASTIAN Duterte, acting mayor of Davao City and son of former president Rodrigo Duterte, filed criminal and administrative complaints on Monday before the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao, accusing top government officials of kidnapping, arbitrary detention, and unlawful expulsion in connection with his father’s arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March.
The complaint names Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Rommel Francisco Marbil, and former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Nicolas Torre III, and others.
Remulla characterized the filing as a politically motivated attempt to derail his application for the position of Ombudsman.
“It’s really an organized effort for them to shoot down my candidacy as ombudsman,” Remulla said Monday. “I think we can still prevail… I think the truth is on my side.”
Addressing the specific allegations, Remulla dismissed the kidnapping and abuse charges as baseless.
“We acted in accordance with international legal processes and our domestic laws, including Republic Act 9851. The portrayal of these events is a complete distortion aimed at sowing political discord,” he said. “The JBC will see through this kind of act that is being perpetrated by the opposite political camp. This is nothing but a political spectacle designed to attack my credibility.”
The 160-page affidavit-complaint details the events of March 11, 2025, alleging that the former president was illegally arrested upon his arrival at NAIA Terminal 3 from Hong Kong.
Officials reportedly presented only an Interpol diffusion notice — not a valid arrest warrant or Red Notice — and ignored repeated requests from Duterte’s lawyers and family, including Vice President Sara Duterte, for access and legal documentation.
The affidavit further claims that the former president, who suffers from diabetes, was denied immediate medical attention despite a doctor’s certification warning of life-threatening complications.
He and members of his entourage were detained for hours at Villamor Airbase before being forcibly flown to the Netherlands via a chartered Gulfstream jet (tail number RP-C5129) without any Philippine court order or valid extradition process.
Sebastian Duterte, filing on behalf of his father, who remains detained abroad, argued that the ICC lost jurisdiction over the Philippines after the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
He accused the respondents of violating numerous laws, citing command responsibility and direct participation.
The complaint arrives just after Sen. Imee Marcos filed a motion for reconsideration on an earlier Ombudsman decision that dismissed her complaint against the same officials over the former president’s arrest.
Marcos maintained that the case she filed against Remulla and other officials linked to the ICC arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte remains active, despite the Ombudsman’s dismissal of the complaints.
The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the complaints on Sept. 12. Remulla and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed the decision.
Marcos, however, said she filed a motion for reconsideration the same day the decision was issued, well within the five-day period allowed by law.
