Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday described former President Rodrigo Duterte’s abrupt transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands as “too arbitrary.”

He assured Senator Imee Marcos that the same will no longer happen if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Treaty on Extradition is ratified.

“If you ask me, Madam Senator, what had happened to Tatay Digong I was also against and I thought it was too arbitrary. There should have been an order from the court, a local court of law,” Zubiri said.

“Hindi puwede ‘yun, ‘yung ginawa nila. Hindi puwedeng basta-bastang kunin na lang, dalhin sa airport at ilipad sa ibang bansa,” he added.

On March 11, 2025, Duterte was arrested for crimes against humanity just as he arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong, detained at the Villamor Air Base, and flown to The Hague within the day.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) justified the move, asserting that the country had surrendered Duterte to the international court, rather than having him extradited.

This ASEAN treaty delineates the protocols and grounds for refusal of extradition requests. Under the treaty, a country may also request that an individual be temporarily detained while it prepares a formal extradition request.

Senator Marcos pointed out during her interpellation that Article 16 of the extradition treaty contained the term “surrender” but did not define it, similar to Republic Act No. 9851, also known as the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

She argued that the Act was used to justify Duterte’s arrest and surrender.

In addition, doomsday preacher and alleged sex offender Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) will be covered by the extradition treaty, Zubiri said.

Previously, the United States formally requested his extradition over allegations of human trafficking and sex trafficking, among other offenses.