MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said that she was angered and saddened by the incident at the Senate on Wednesday night to arrest her ally, Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, calling it a "disrespect" to the institution.
Senators and personnel were gripped by terror when gunshots rang out, forcing journalists to take cover.
Speaking to blogger Alvin Zarzate at The Hague after visiting her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, the vice president reiterated that any warrant coming from the International Criminal Court has no power since they do not have Philippine jurisdiction,
"That is why all issuances from foreign courts and foreign tribunals have no force or effect in the Philippines. The only exception is if they are filed within our local courts, and it is the local courts that issue their own Philippine order based on what is deliberated in the case. That is the proper process," Duterte said in Filipino.
Duterte said that the situation of Dela Rosa mirrors the "kidnapping" or "extraordinary rendition" of her father, who was arrested last year on charges of crimes against humanity.
"It wasn’t a surrender. Because you forcibly took a person from their own country and brought them to another. That was the opinion and perspective of the world on what happened then," Duterte said.
