President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is accompanied by Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana during his attendance at the General Assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines held at the Manila Hotel in Manila on February 26, 2019. Karl Norman Alonzo, Presidential Photo/File

MANILA — National Security Adviser Eduardo Año admitted Thursday that it was "very hard" for him to witness the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte as he denied a "grand conspiracy" to nab and send his former boss to The Hague, Netherlands.

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"It is also very hard for me to see the former president arrested... I've worked closely with former President Duterte for so many years," Año said, adding that they have developed a "personal friendship."

Año, who was armed forces chief and then later local government secretary under Duterte, asserted that Duterte's arrest on March 11 was a "spontaneous" turn of events, and not part of a "grand conspiracy."

He also denied being part of a "core group" that supposedly planned Duterte arrest ahead of the release of the ICC warrant.

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"I am not aware of any core group nor am I member of such group that allegedly planned and prepared for the arrest of Duterte," Año said.

"There was no intelligence operation," he added.

Año was among the top government officials invited by Sen. Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to the inquiry into Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court's custody.

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Sen. Marcos, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s sister, is included in the administration's Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate but she has distanced herself from it out of her friendship with the Dutertes.

Duterte faces a crimes against humanity charge in relation to his bloody war on drugs.

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