Daily Times

The Philippine Senate said on Monday that it will carry out a formal probe after ex-President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and handed over last week to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he faces charges of having committed crimes against humanity. Duterte, 79, has been accused of being responsible for many murders during his yearslong campaign against drugs, in which thousands of people were killed, according to rights groups. The probe, which will include a public hearing on Thursday where top police and other government officials will testify, was initiated by Senator Imee Marcos. Imee Marcos is a sister of President Ferdinand Marcos and also a close friend of Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter, who has been impeached on charges that include an alleged assassination plot against the president. “As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I am calling for an urgent investigation into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, an issue that has deeply divided the nation,” Imee Marcos said in a statement on Monday. “It is imperative to establish whether due process was followed and to ensure that his legal rights were not just upheld but protected,” she said, adding: “Our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount.”