Imee to Palace: Allow Cabinet execs to talk about Duterte’s arrest

Sen. Imee Marcos on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, appeals to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to allow invited Cabinet executives to attend the second hearing of her Senate inquiry into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos has appealed to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to reconsider and allow invited Cabinet executives to attend the second hearing of the Senate inquiry into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte set on Thursday.

In a letter dated April 1, which was only released to the media on Wednesday, the senator said she finds none of the justification provided by Bersamin sufficient to ban executive officials from attending the hearing of the Senate foreign committee, which she chairs.

Bersamin earlier said the Palace has decided to “respectfully decline” the invitation to attend the April 3 hearing of the Senate panel led by Marcos, citing executive privilege and the sub judice rule.

“Regrettably, the undersigned finds none of the reasons you adduced in the letter as sufficient justification for the refusal of executive officials to attend the hearing,” said the senator, who is the eldest sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Foremost, the findings you referred to in your letter, while sufficiently backed by factual and legal bases, are nonetheless preliminary,” she added.

The senator argued that her panel is keen to provide the executive officials an opportunity to clarify issues and questions that surfaced at the last hearing.

READ: Cabinet done with Sen. Marcos probe of Duterte arrest

“There are likewise new pieces of information that the Committee has received, and in the interest of fairness and transparency, the Committee would like to give executive officials a chance to explain their side relative to these new pieces of information,” she emphasized.

With this, she expressed hope that the Palace would reconsider its decision and allow invited Cabinet members to attend the scheduled hearing.

While the Palace has yet to issue a response, the senator said the second hearing on Duterte’s controversial arrest would push through on April 3.

Duterte was arrested on March 11 on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court which charged him with crimes against humanity for the bloody drug war he orchestrated when he was still in power.