By Ivy Tejano
DAVAO CITY – Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte questioned Malacañang Palace’s stance on Philippine sovereignty, saying that “no part of the country’s territory will be surrendered to foreign powers.”
In a statement over the weekend, Congressman Duterte said the government has been inconsistent since the arrest and transfer of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
“At least now you remember that we are a sovereign country,” Rep. Duterte said, before asking where the government’s commitment to sovereignty was when former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague.
The Davao City lawmaker argued that the government invoked sovereignty when it was convenient but chose to cooperate when the ICC sought the former president’s custody.
“You can wrap it in all the legal jargon you want—ICC, Interpol, cooperation, coordination—but one plus one is still two. Philippine authorities kidnapped a Philippine president, and he ended up in ICC custody,” Rep. Duterte said.
He also questioned what he called the government’s selective application of sovereignty. “You cannot treat sovereignty like Wi-Fi—on when it favors you and off when Duterte is the target,” he said.
The congressman further urged the administration to uphold its principle of national sovereignty consistently rather than applying it selectively.
Rep. Duterte also argued that if the government works to repatriate Filipinos detained abroad, there should have been no reason to send a former Philippine president to another country to face what he described as “fabricated charges.”
Malacañang has maintained that the Philippines is a sovereign state and that U.S. policies are beyond the Philippine government’s control.
The Palace has also previously defended the government’s actions regarding the transfer of former President Duterte, citing its obligations under existing laws and its cooperation with international law enforcement mechanisms.
