Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano Speaks on Appeal for House Arrest of Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte
ALAN PETER CAYETANO – The Senator sponsored the resolution calling on the Senate to back the house arrest plea for former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
For more than six (6) months now, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is detained under the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. He has applied for an interim release but the ICC has yet to issue a ruling in the application.
Amid the interim release application, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte admitted that she prefers a house arrest for former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte in Davao City. While there is a “third country” that allegedly agreed to host the interim release of her father, the Vice President admitted that she prefers a house arrest for her father even in an underground bunker in their hometown.
The Vice President did not reveal which country agreed to host the interim release of the former President if the ICC grants it but said it is neither Japan nor Australia. Recently, a resolution was filed and passed in the Senate urging the chamber to call for a house arrest for former Pres. Duterte. It gained a 15-3-2 voting result.
YES
- Gatchalian
- Ejercito
- Legarda
- Lacson
- E. Tulfo
- M. Villar
- Zubiri
- Marcoleta
- Marcos
- A. Cayetano
- Padilla
- Dela Rosa
- Villanueva
- Estrada
- Go
NO
- Hontiveros
- Aquino
- Pangilinan
ABSTAIN
- SP Sotto
- R. Tulfo
Senators Chiz Escudero, Lito Lapid, Camille Villar, and Pia Cayetano were absent during the session. One of the sponsors of the resolution urging the Senate to call for the house arrest of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte was Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was the running mate of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 but he lost to former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo. He was appointed as the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) during Duterte’s term.
In calling for the house arrest of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano cited “humanitarian treatment”. Based on a post of Inquirer on social media, the Senator stressed that the former President is not convicted and making a move is allegedly not only for him for the Filipino populace.
“One thing we don’t want to do is to see the former president suffer as if it is a punishment when he has not been convicted. This is not only for him but for us, the nation,” Cayetano said.
Based on the post, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that he cannot imagine what the country will do if something happens to former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte inside the ICC detention center and we have done nothing.
“I cannot imagine what the country will do if something happens with him in the detention center at wala man tayong ginawa,” he said.
Aside from Cayetano, known-Duterte ally Sen. Bato dela Rosa also supported Duterte’s house arrest and appealed to his fellow senators to unite.