President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Tuesday rejected the claim of his sister that the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte last March 11 was "politically motivated."

"Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I disagree," Marcos told Palace reporters in an interview in Cavite.

Senator Imee Marcos, who is seeking re-election, claimed that there was a "group effort" among government agencies to coordinate with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for the arrest of Duterte based on an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte has been detained in the Netherlands for more than a month.

Senator Marcos is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which conducted several hearings on the arrest of Duterte.

She has called on the Ombudsman to investigate several government officials involved in the arrest for possible graft, grave misconduct, usurpation of judicial functions, and arbitrary detention.

Palace Press Officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro earlier said they were no longer surprised by Senator Marcos' remarks since the lawmaker allegedly made her opinion the matter known even before the conclusion of the Senate hearing on the arrest. DMS