Mayor Duterte, council members slam arrest of ex-President Duterte

Several members of the Davao City Council, or Sangguniang Panlungsod, show their support to former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was arrested Tuesday morning, 11 march 2025. Photo from the Facebook page of Vice Mayor Atty. J. Melchor Quitain Jr.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 March) – Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte led officials here in a show of support for former President Rodrigo Duterte, as his father was taken Tuesday morning under the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Manila. 

Duterte said the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was trying to “murder the old man,” referring to his father, who will be turning 80 years old on March 28. 

“They want a prolonged standoff by using General (Nicolas) Torre (lll) to illegally detain and deny PRRD of medical care. It seems to me that they are trying to murder the old man,” the younger Duterte said in a Facebook post 1:24 p.m. on March 11. 

Torre is the chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. He said that the former president was arrested based on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, where Duterte is accused of “crimes against humanity” in connection with his “war on drugs.”

“They are insisting that PRRD get on a plane to who knows where using an ICC warrant. (The ICC) does not have jurisdiction in this country. Clowns behaving like clowns again. This has to end.  (The) Bongbong Marcos admin is fantasizing that this scenario would materialize, hoping that the issue on the national budget would just go away,” the mayor said. 

Earlier, members of the 20th Davao City Council trooped to the Rizal Park from their regular session at the Sangguniang Panlungsod to lead a small candlelight ceremony.

Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain, Jr. stood at the stage and led a prayer rally among themselves to show support as former President Duterte was being detained by the CIDG in Manila in real time. 

Last month, the city councilors and other supporters of the Dutertes filed a petition for certiorari to block the impeachment trial of another Duterte and former Mayor of Davao City, Vice President Sara Duterte. 

As of 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, supporters of Duterte were starting to mass outside the Davao City Hall to show their support to the former president.

Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte gather outside the Davao City Hall on Tuesday, 11 March 2025, hours after he was arrested. MindaNews photo by GREGORIO C. BUENO

(Yas D. Ocampo with a report from Gregorio Bueno/ MindaNews)