CAYETANO’S DUTERTE REPATRIATION MOVE

A sharp, no-frills breakdown of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s push to repatriate Rodrigo Duterte under house arrest at the Philippine Embassy in The Hague — and why it’s more political than humanitarian. This commentary dissects Cayetano’s timing, motivations, and legal maneuvering, including his role in delaying Sara Duterte’s impeachment. This isn’t just about legal expertise — it’s about positioning. And it’s time we take a closer look.

Alan Peter Cayetano wants Rodrigo Duterte back — not in the Philippines, but in the Philippine Embassy in The Hague. Under house arrest. While waiting to be tried by the ICC.

It sounds like a legal arrangement, pero sa tingin ko? It’s political chess.

And Cayetano, as usual, is trying to play every side of the board at once.

WHAT HE’S TRYING TO DO

On paper, it’s a resolution filed on July 10. Humanitarian in tone. Cayetano says Duterte’s health is declining.

He’s 80, isolated, and unwell. So instead of staying in ICC custody, Duterte should be allowed to stay at the Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands — house arrest, not jail.

He even cites the ICC’s decision to allow a Congolese rebel to stay under similar conditions years ago. He’s not wrong about the legal basis.

Pero huwag tayong maglokohan — this isn’t just about humanitarian concern.

WHY IT’S UNLIKELY

The Philippines walked away from the ICC in 2019, but that doesn’t erase what happened while we were still part of it.

Crimes committed between 2011 and 2019 — including the bloody years of the drug war — are still under their jurisdiction.

Diplomatic immunity won’t protect Duterte here.

And using the embassy as some sort of halfway house? It's legally weird and politically loaded.

The ICC won’t just say yes because Cayetano (or the Philippines for that matter) asked nicely.

But honestly, whether it works or not isn’t the point.

SO, WHAT IS THE POINT? LOOK AT THE TIMING...

Matagal nang malapit si Cayetano sa mga Duterte.

Running mate in 2016. Foreign Affairs Secretary. Loyal defender. Duterte has praised him publicly — even called him honest.

But this move didn’t come during Duterte’s presidency. It didn’t even come in the years after.

It came now — right after the midterm elections where Duterte allies made a comeback, and right in the middle of Sara Duterte’s impeachment drama.

This is Cayetano finding a way to stay relevant.

He knows the winds are shifting again. And he wants to be seen as someone still useful to the Duterte bloc.

HE’S NOT JUST SAVING DUTERTE — HE’S POSITIONING HIMSELF

And in that situation, he is using the Dutertes.

Sara is thinking of running in 2028. That’s no secret.

Cayetano’s move puts him back in the picture — as a supporter, a loyalist, and a legal mind willing to do the work irrespective of the rightness or wrongness of that move.

His sister Pia’s Senate seat is secured till 2031.

This is about keeping the Cayetano name in circulation — not out of nostalgia, but out of strategy.

And while he courts the Dutertes, he’s also careful not to alienate the Marcoses. It’s a balancing act — not loyalty, not just about survival.

SARA’S IMPEACHMENT: HOW CAYETANO SLOWED IT DOWN

Let me walk you through this part because it tells you everything you need to know about how Cayetano moves.

On June 10, 2025, Bato dela Rosa filed a motion to dismiss the impeachment case against Sara Duterte.

That motion didn’t have the numbers. It was going down.

Then Cayetano stepped in. And what did he do? He rewrote the playbook.

He didn’t side with dismissal.
He didn’t call for trial either.

He proposed a “compromise” — return the articles of impeachment to the House without dismissing the case.

Sounds harmless, right? It wasn’t.

That motion, vague and procedural, effectively stopped the Senate from fulfilling its constitutional duty to proceed “forthwith” with the trial.

It kicked the ball back to the House — and created just enough confusion for the whole thing to stall.

Christian Monsod, one of the framers of our Constitution, saw right through it. Called it the beginning of the delay. He was right.

DELAY DISGUISED AS DUE PROCESS

Cayetano framed it as a question of jurisdiction. Said, “In any court, before you present the evidence, you first have to determine whether that court has jurisdiction.”

Problem is, this isn’t a regular court. This is an impeachment proceeding.

And the Constitution is crystal clear: the Senate has the sole power to try.

Still, his argument worked.

Senator Koko Pimentel and Sen. Risa Hontiveros tried to push back, saying the whole thing was too complicated — that it undermined the Senate’s credibility.

House prosecutors weren’t subtle either — they accused the Senate of “lawyering for Duterte.”

Protesters showed up. The public called it a cover-up.

And Cayetano? He just smiled through it, repeating his new line:

“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.”

He also floated that the Supreme Court might have to weigh in — giving the Senate another reason to drag its feet.

IT BOUGHT TIME

The result? Delay. Plain and simple.

The House had to resubmit certifications.

Time passed.
Sara’s camp reorganized.
And the urgency to proceed with trial faded into the background.

Cayetano didn’t kill the case outright.

He just put it in slow motion — which, for someone like Sara Duterte, is almost the same thing.

And again, Cayetano stayed clean.
Not on the offensive.
Not defending Sara directly.

Just raising constitutional concerns while everything quietly ground to a halt.

MY TAKE

This embassy proposal? Same script. Different setting.

Cayetano hides behind procedure, appeals to legal technicalities, and makes it all sound noble. But everything about it — from timing, to delivery, to target audience — tells you what it really is.

It’s positioning.

He’s making sure the Duterte crowd still sees him as loyal. Making sure he’s part of the conversation in 2028. Making sure that, no matter what happens, he has a foot in the room where deals are being made.

Whether the ICC goes for it is secondary. What matters is the message it sends: that Cayetano is still very much in play.

And that’s what worries me.

Just like Chiz Escudero and a few others, Cayetano knows how to weaponize legal knowledge and procedure. But it’s the intent behind it that makes him dangerous. He’s using the Dutertes — and the legal drama surrounding them — to sharpen his image and secure his place in the next power configuration.

It’s not about constitutional integrity. It’s about self-preservation, access, and staying relevant in circles of power.

He’s not doing this for the country. He’s doing it for himself.

And we should start treating him that way. Watch him closely. Question him often. Because people like him don’t swing a sword — they use the rules as a shield.

Yes, I do. Here’s the list of all the sources we used for the Cayetano commentary, formatted the way you requested — just the name and the URL beside it:

SOURCES:

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