Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte strongly condemned the detention of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling it unlawful and accusing authorities of deliberately prolonging the situation.

In a series of social media posts, the Davao mayor criticized authorities following his father’s arrest.

“They want a prolonged standoff by using General Torre to illegally detain PRRD and deny him medical care. It seems to me that they are trying to murder the old man,” Sebastian Duterte wrote on Facebook.

In another post, he questioned the Philippine National Police (PNP) for what he called an unlawful arrest, arguing that they failed to properly serve the warrant.

“This is not the Philippine National Police serving a warrant since they cannot even justify their actions. This is a political maneuver by the Bongbong Marcos administration. Be prepared, no matter what,” he said.

Philippine authorities took the 79-year-old Duterte into custody on Tuesday upon his arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, acting on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC is investigating Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity, including his reported links to the Davao Death Squad killings when he was Davao City mayor and the thousands of drug-related deaths under his presidency.