Palace: No info on Digong’s request for asylum in China
(FILE PHOTO) Press Officer Usec. Claire Castro held a press briefing on 25 February 2025, at the New Executive Building in Malacañang Palace, Manila, addressing key national concerns. She clarified that the government is not erasing the EDSA People Power commemoration despite declaring 25 February a special working day, emphasizing that institutions remain free to observe it.
Yummie Dingding
Malacañang said on Friday that it had not received any information regarding former President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged request for asylum in China before his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said they were only informed of Duterte’s arrival from Hong Kong.
“Wala po kaming ganoong impormasyon na natanggap. Hindi po iyon ang mga lumalabas na info na dumarating sa Palasyo (We have not received such information. That is not the kind of information that is coming to the Palace),” Castro told reporters in a press briefing.
Citing a reliable source, a television report on Thursday disclosed that Duterte had allegedly sought asylum in China but was denied.
According to the report, the source also revealed that Philippine authorities had been preparing for Duterte's arrest and the execution of an ICC arrest warrant since January, as part of Oplan Tugis, a plan set by the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
On 11 March, Duterte returned to the country after attending campaign sorties for the Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban)’s senatorial slate in Hong Kong.
Upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), PNP-CIDG chief Nicolas Torre III led the serving of an arrest warrant to Duterte inside the aircraft.
Philippine authorities arrested Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity filed by the ICC.
In a Facebook post on Friday, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque tagged the issue of Duterte seeking asylum as fake news.
“For the record, hindi po kasapi ang China at Hong Kong sa 1951 Convention on the Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (China and Hong Kong are not signatories to the 1951 Convention on the Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers),” Roque lamented.
“Impossible po na nag-apply dun si Tatay Digong dahil wala pong asylum sa China at Hong Kong (It is impossible for Tatay Digong to have applied there because there is no asylum in China and Hong Kong),” he added.