On September 15, 2025, Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte set off a political firestorm by filing a sweeping set of criminal and administrative complaints against high-ranking government officials. The move, made before the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao, accuses key figures in the Marcos administration and law enforcement of orchestrating what Duterte’s camp calls the “illegal arrest” and transfer of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
The 160-page affidavit-complaint, prepared by Mayor Duterte’s counsel, Atty. Israelito Torreon, names Interior and Local Government Secretary Juan Victor Remulla, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, and several others. The list of respondents also includes Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, former PNP chief and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director General Nicolas Deloso Torre III, Special Envoy for Transnational Crime Markus Lacanilao, Executive Director of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes Anthony Alcantara, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, and former PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo. A handful of unnamed pilots, police officers, and the owner of the Gulfstream G550 jet used in the transfer are also implicated as "John Doe" and "Jane Doe."
According to the complaint, the charges are nothing short of grave: eight counts of kidnapping, eight counts of arbitrary detention, qualified direct assault, expulsion, violations of the Anti-Torture Act (Republic Act 9745), usurpation of judicial functions, and breaches of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019). Administrative complaints for serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, disloyalty to the Republic, oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service are also included.
The crux of the case centers on the events of March 11, 2025. That day, former President Duterte, his partner Honeylet Avanceña, and daughter Veronica Duterte landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 from Hong Kong. Mayor Duterte claims that as soon as his father’s party disembarked, they were approached by police officers who, instead of presenting a warrant issued by a Philippine court, showed an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) document tied to the ICC process. The complainant insists this document held no legal force within the Philippines. From there, authorities allegedly whisked the former president and his entourage to Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, where they were detained in a holding room for hours, denied medical care and legal counsel, and ultimately placed on a chartered jet bound for The Hague—without any court order or extradition proceedings.
The complaint is bolstered by photographic evidence, including images of confrontations at the airport and inside the aircraft. A particularly damning detail: Mayor Duterte’s affidavit claims that his father, who has diabetes, was deprived of urgent medical attention despite a blood glucose reading of 328 mg/dL and a doctor’s recommendation for immediate hospital admission. “He was denied medical care despite clear evidence of a serious health risk,” the complaint asserts, as cited by Philippine Daily Tribune.
The flight’s journey is meticulously documented, with flight tracking records showing the former president’s departure to Dubai and onward to the Netherlands on March 12. Once in The Hague, Duterte—represented by former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea—appeared at an ICC initial hearing on March 14. Medialdea’s remarks at the hearing, reproduced in the affidavit, characterized the transfer as an “extrajudicial rendition” and challenged the ICC Registry to explain the circumstances of the arrest and transfer.
Mayor Duterte’s legal salvo argues that the ICC has no jurisdiction over his father, pointing to the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019. The complaint contends that the entire operation—from arrest to transfer—was a violation of Philippine sovereignty and constitutional guarantees, and that it disregarded established legal procedures for extradition and due process. “The ICC has no jurisdiction to act on this case,” the complaint states unequivocally.
The filing seeks not only criminal prosecution but also administrative sanctions for the named officials. It requests their preventive suspension from office, arguing that “evidence of guilt is strong” and that their continued presence could jeopardize witnesses and evidence. Mayor Duterte has also filed a separate petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus before the Supreme Court, challenging his father’s alleged detention and expulsion.
According to INQUIRER.net, the complaint accuses Justice Secretary Remulla, Defense Secretary Teodoro, and National Security Adviser Año of coordinating with the ICC and Interpol to enforce the warrant of arrest. Justice Undersecretary Ty and Prosecutor General Fadullon are alleged to have presented and enforced the supposed ICC warrant, while General Marbil is accused of command responsibility and General Torre of denying Duterte legal counsel and medical care during the arrest. Brigadier General Fajardo is implicated for allegedly concealing Duterte’s whereabouts and being present at Villamor Air Base prior to the transfer.
It’s worth noting that the arrest of former President Duterte was based on a warrant issued by the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s controversial war on drugs. Official reports place the death toll at around 6,000, but human rights groups claim the figure could be as high as 20,000. The ICC’s involvement has been hailed by rights advocates as a long-overdue step toward accountability, while Duterte’s supporters have blasted it as a violation of national sovereignty and due process.
The political temperature has only risen since the arrest. Vice President Sara Duterte, speaking in The Hague, publicly described her father’s arrest as “illegal” and claimed he had been “kidnapped” by the ICC. She even joked about plotting a jailbreak. Meanwhile, the Duterte camp’s motion for interim release from ICC detention has been opposed by ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, who cited public statements by the vice president as evidence of potential obstruction.
The case has also deepened the already fraught relationship between the Duterte and Marcos camps. As Daily Tribune reports, the complaint frames the arrest as politically motivated, raising fears about the weaponization of legal processes to retaliate against officials tasked with fulfilling international obligations. Senator Imee Marcos’ foreign relations panel had earlier referred its own findings to the Ombudsman, urging an investigation into five officials. On May 6, the Ombudsman directed several respondents to answer allegations related to the arrest, but cases against some, including the Remullas, Marbil, Torre, Fadullon, Ty, and Lacanilao, were dismissed last week, just before Mayor Duterte’s latest filing.
At the time of writing, the Office of the Ombudsman has yet to issue a statement on the new complaint. The docket numbers remain blank, and it is unclear whether the Ombudsman will find sufficient basis to proceed with a preliminary investigation or impose preventive suspensions as requested.
As the legal and political drama unfolds, the Philippines finds itself at a crossroads, with the fate of a former president, the credibility of its institutions, and the boundaries of sovereignty and international justice hanging in the balance.
