MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday claimed her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested ahead of the 2025 midterm elections to temper the growing support for senatorial candidates allied with their family.

The former president was arrested in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after he arrived from Hong Kong, where he and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) senatorial candidates met with overseas Filipino workers.

“Ngayon dahil lumalakas yung PDP bloc voting of 9 candidates, tatanggalin nila si President Duterte,” the Vice President told reporters in a chance interview outside the Villamor Air Base.

“Some sort of kidnapping, parang ganiyan na nangyayari. All because mukhang matatalo sila sa midterm elections dahil ang lakas ng vote straight sa candidates ng PDP,” she said.

“I warned you about the budget… I’m warning all of you about election cheating,” she said.

The Vice President further claimed that her father’s allegedly unlawful arrest may also be linked to the 2028 national elections, where she has long been rumored to vie for the presidency.

But the younger Duterte clarified that she has yet to decide if she would actually run for the Philippines’ highest post in the next presidential elections.

“Hindi pa yan yung iniisip natin ngayon,” she said.

“Ang iniisip natin ngayon hindi dapat makaalis si President Duterte sa Pilipinas.

Kung pipilitin man ng gobyerno… paano natin siya mapapabalik? ‘Yun lang muna yung aasikasuhin and of course yung pangangampaniya ng 9 candidates ng PDP,” she said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied allegations that his predecessor’s arrest was part of politicking ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

“The government is just doing its job. It’s not because it is one person or another that we do the things that we do,” Marcos Jr. told reporters in a press conference in Malacañang.

“Maybe noon sa mga nakaraang administrasyon ganoon, ang ginagawa pero sa akin hindi ganoon,” he said.

The President emphasized that charges of crimes against humanity have been filed against his predecessor as early as 2017, when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC.

“It was during the time of former President Duterte. I don’t see why that can be political persecution on my part because it was initiated even before I came to the picture,” Marcos Jr. said.

“Civilian pa ako noong nangyari ito, wala pa ako. This is an evolution of his case so this is where we ended up,” he said.

Duterte’s arrest is linked to the numerous extrajudicial cases committed under his administration’s crackdown on illegal drugs that saw thousands of drug suspects — including minors and bystanders — killed during police operations.