DILG chief: OP paid for Rody jet

The Office of the President (OP) paid for the chartered plane used to bring former president Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague in the Netherlands, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed yesterday.

- BELLA CARIASO

"The plane was chartered by the Office of the President. We brought him straight to the Netherlands at 11:03 (p.m. Tuesday) wheels up. We surrendered him to the International Criminal Court (ICC)," Remulla said in an interview with ANC.

He did not mention who owns the private jet with tail number RP-C5219 and how much the OP paid for the chartered flight.

Remulla also contradicted the claim of Vice President Sara Duterte that the action of the Marcos administration was a blatant affront to the country’s sovereignty.

“Is it a foreign power? Yes. It (ICC) is considered a foreigner, but is it a foreign sovereign entity? It is not. It is a tribunal court composed of nationals from different countries. Did we submit him to a foreign leader? We did not… It is a tribunal court. They can argue their case there and we welcome it,” he said.