Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Monday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) properly coordinated the service of an arrest warrant on Vice President Sara Duterte, but claimed her camp initially wanted to turn the situation into “high drama.”

“She wanted to be jailed immediately. She wanted high drama — to be arrested here and shown in handcuffs,” Remulla said in Filipino in a press briefing at Camp Crame with PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II.

Remulla said Duterte was told that as the Vice President, she would be accorded respect and could stay at Camp Crame in temporary quarters before being brought to court.

He said their communication then stopped and at around 1 a.m. on Saturday her camp informed the authorities that she would instead proceed directly to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to post bail.

“She is the Vice President, the second highest elected official in the country. She should not be accosted. It was a bailable offense, so we accorded her all the respect and courtesy,” Remulla said.

He also rejected Duterte’s claim that she was harassed during the service of the warrant, saying the police personnel sent to her offices and residence were unarmed and wore body cameras.

“As you can see in the service of the warrants, there was no SWAT, no armed component. The policewomen were unarmed and were duly accepted into the residence and office,” Remulla said.

“Any claim of harassment during the service is totally untrue,” he added.

Morico said the PNP received the warrant on 4 September and immediately informed Duterte’s office and coordinated with the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.

He said Duterte’s representatives initially told police she intended to surrender at Camp Crame and be incarcerated there.

Morico said she would be held in a conference room rather than the jail because the facility was undergoing renovation and had inadequate accommodations for women.

Police waited until about 1 a.m. on Saturday for Duterte to arrive but were later informed that she would go directly to the Quezon City RTC to post bail. An unarmed team of policewomen was dispatched to escort her.