The government was merely fulfilling its responsibilities and commitments to the international community in cooperating with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) regarding the arrest of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. stressed this during a media briefing Tuesday night when asked about calls for mass protest actions from Duterte supporters.

“Again, the government is just doing its job. Wala namang (personalan), it’s not because it’s one person or another that we do the things that we do,” the President said.

“Maybe noong mga nakaraan na mga administrasyon, baka ganoon ang ginagawa. Pero sa akin, hindi naman ganoon. Sumusunod tayo sa batas. We are a member of the community of nations,” he added.

The President said the case against Duterte had evolved since 2017 when he was still a private citizen.

“Civilian pa ako noon, so this is the evolution of his case, and this is where we end up,” he added.

On Tuesday morning, the former President and his family arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from a Hong Kong trip. He was immediately placed in government custody at Villamor Air Base.

Duterte was escorted to a private plane, which took off at 11:03 p.m., en route to The Hague in the Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity in connection with his bloody war on drugs during his administration. | PND