Vice President Sara Duterte arrives at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands on March 14, 2025. Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) — Vice President Sara Duterte claimed Thursday her father Rodrigo Duterte's arrest was a case of "extraordinary rendition" and insisted that the International Criminal Court warrant issued for the former president was invalid unless reviewed by a Philippine court.

Appearing via video conference, Sara Duterte attended presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos' Senate inquiry into the elder Duterte's arrest. Marcos chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

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In her statement, the vice president accused the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of unlawfully arresting her father on March 11 when he landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon arrival from Hong Kong.

She called the arrest "patently illegal" and constituted "extraordinary rendition," stressing that there was no valid arrest warrant issued by a Philippine court.

"What happened on March 11, 2025 is not just about one man, it is about all of us, it is about the country. If a former president can be taken without due process what stops them from doing the same to any other Filipino?"

Extraordinary rendition — or state-backed kidnapping — is a widely criticized practice carried out by the US government to transfer a prisoner to a foreign country for the purposes of detention and interrogation, according to Britannica.

It said that "prisoners were subject to indefinite imprisonment without trial and the possibility of torture, in violation of basic due process protections and international human rights law."

Dutertes' ally Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ had earlier claimed he was in danger of extraordinary rendition amid the possibility of bringing him to the US where he faces child and sex abuse charges.

Police officers who served the warrant for ICC suspect Rodrigo Duterte ensured that he knew his rights when he was arrested on March 11. He was brought to The Hague in the Netherlands on the same day to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity for his deadly drug war.

Duterte on March 14 appeared via video link before ICC judges in a hearing branded by the Palace as a "fair trial." He is set to attend a September 23 hearing to confirm the charges against him.

Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa challenged his arrest before the Supreme Court on March 11 but failed to secure an immediate temporary restraining order. The case continues in hopes of settling legal questions raised by the Duterte camp.

Meanwhile, Duterte's children also asked the high court to compel the Marcos administration to bring their father back to the Philippines through a writ of habeas corpus.

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The Duterte camp had earlier accused Philippine authorities of "kidnapping" the former chief executive despite a confirmed ICC warrant for him. They insisted that the arrest should not have been made because the nation had already withdrawn from the ICC in 2019.

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But President Marcos underscored that the country was merely complying with the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol when it served the warrant for Duterte, with his aides saying that they also followed a domestic law for his arrest.

Section 17 of Republic Act 9851 or An Act Defining and Penalizing Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity states that Philippine authorities "may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties."

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Sara Duterte also quoted President Marcos as saying in a letter dated Dec. 15, 2023, that his government would not assist the ICC "in any way, shape or form."

"If the government has declared non-cooperation with the ICC why did the PNP (Philippine National Police) violate this very policy and enforce a foreign warrant?" she said.

But to recall, Marcos in recent months has softened his stance on the ICC's jurisdiction over the Philippines, saying in November 2024 that his administration would neither help nor block the international tribunal's investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity in Duterte's war on drugs.