Enrile slams claims ‘Duterte was kidnapped’ (2025)

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile has slammed claims that former President Rodrigo Duterte was “kidnapped” when brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

“Many of his supporters and admirers—some of whom are learned academicians and legal scholars—claim that FPRRD’s (Duterte) arrest was bereft of due process and that his delivery to the ICC for trial in the Netherlands was in violation of our dignity and sovereignty as a country. They blame BBM (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) and his regime for this unprecedented legal event. With due respect to all, I beg to disagree,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Enrile cited the country’s adherence to international law and the separation of powers of the three branches of the government.

READ: Duterte: I want to die in my country

“We are a country governed by rule of law and a regime of justice. We are a democratic and republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. We adopt the generally accepted principles of international law as a part of the law of our land. We adhere to the policy of cooperation and amity with all nations,” he said.

“The legislative branch makes the laws; the executive branch implements them; and the judiciary interprets them. They operate on the basis of check and balance of power among them.”

“Now coming back to the ICC case of FPRRD, how can anyone validly claim that BBM kidnapped FPRRD and delivered him to the ICC for trial in the Netherlands in the face of all the constitutional principles I have recited in this post and the provisions of Republic Act No. 9861, especially Chapter VII thereof?” he asked.

Enrile also mentioned Marcos’ oath to “faithfully and conscientiously” deliver his duties as head of state when he assumed office in June 2022.

“My position is very simple: I will not burn the whole house to save the ass of a cook whose error, negligence, or hubris caused a fire in the kitchen. It is a basic—though nearly an unwritten—principle of statecraft that the defense of the state is a prime duty of every government!” he added.

Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11. He was flown the same day to The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s drug war.

He made his first appearance at the ICC during his pretrial hearing on March 14. He was unable to attend physically and only participated in the pretrial via video link.

The Duterte administration’s drug war claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data. However, human rights watchdogs estimated the death toll from the drug war to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.