Vice President Sara Duterte at the Gate 1 of the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on March 11, 2025. Duterte says she was supposed to visit her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, but she was denied entry into the air base. Jekki Pascual. ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATED) — Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday called out the Armed Forces of the Philippines for what she said was its silence on the arrest of her father former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was transported to The Hague, Netherlands from  Villamor Air Base, the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force. 

Duterte arrest constitutes 'extraordinary rendition,' says VP Sara

The AFP follows a strict chain of command, at the top of which is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., its commander in chief. It has generally not commented on political issues except to stress adherence to that chain of command and to the Constitution.

Duterte, who is also in The Hague, appeared virtually before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations inquiry to question the legality of her father's arrest on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

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According to Duterte, the AFP stood "idly" while the Philippine National Police (PNP) supposedly took control of their military airbase in order to send her father to Netherlands.

"Even more disturbing is the silence of the Armed Forces of the Philppines. Why did the AFP stand idly by when a former commander in chief was taken from a military base under questionable circumstances?" Duterte said.

Duterte was barred from entering the Villamor Airbase at the height of her father's arrest. 

Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, later said he was the one who ordered the vice president barred from entering the airbase, supposedly to prevent chaos.

Sara Duterte barred from Villamor Air Base before dad Rodrigo's Hague flight, admits CIDG chief

TEODORO: DND, MILITARY HAVE NO LAW ENFORCEMENT MANDATE

The AFP has yet to issue a statement following Duterte's remark, but Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement that the defense department and the military are not primarily tasked with law enforcement.

“Our sole mandate is to give support to the Philippine National Police when it is asked for. And therefore, such ends our jurisdiction.”

He said the move to arrest Duterte was a law enforcement operation that the PNP could ask the military for help with.

“And that is the extent of the participation of my department and Armed Forces of the Philippines. And all matters in supporting the Philippine National Police are governed by national security.”

Vice President Duterte on Thursday said: "If a former President can be taken without due process, what stops them from doing the same to any other Filipino?"

Human rights groups have long documented and denounced reported abductions and arbitrary arrests of activists in the Marcos Jr. and Duterte administrations and under previous presidents. 

In an earlier statement, the AFP said there were no reports of resignations of its personnel following the arrest of former Duterte, adding that military remains non-partisan and professional.

‘You cannot resign via social media’: AFP says no reported resignations after Duterte’s arrest

Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on March 11 on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s bloody drug war.

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