Duterte was arrested for crimes against humanity
TACLOBAN CITY – Senator Imee Marcos expressed shock over the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the incident reminded her of the fate of her father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., as well as former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“The past is repeating itself,” Marcos said in a media interview in Tacloban City on Tuesday, March 11. “I felt pity for my father in 1986. I also felt the same for the succeeding presidents—Erap (Estrada) and GMA (Arroyo).”
The senator lamented what she described as a cycle of political retribution in the country.
“We never seem to learn. This only brings more chaos. It’s a cycle that keeps repeating—endless retaliation and political infighting. Does this kind of politics improve the lives of Filipinos? Has our country progressed because of this?” she said.
Marcos said she was shocked upon learning about Duterte’s arrest through text messages and media reports while on her way to Palompon, Leyte.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Duterte, the country’s 16th President, was arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday for crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
Her father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was ousted through the 1986 People Power Revolution. Estrada was forced from office in 2001 during People Power II and was later convicted of plunder before receiving a presidential pardon.
Arroyo, his successor, was detained on electoral fraud and plunder charges but was eventually released after the Supreme Court dismissed the plunder case during Duterte’s presidency.
Marcos declined to comment on the charges against Duterte or issue a message to Malacañang regarding the matter.
She is currently seeking reelection under the Bagong Alyansa slate of her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
