'Honeylet', Duterte's partner, hits police officer's head with a mobile phone, cop hospitalised

Manila: A female police officer from the Special Action Force (SAF) was reportedly hospitalised after being struck with a cellphone by former First Lady Honeylet Avanceña, the partner of former-president Rodrigo Duterte.

The incident took place at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Tuesday (March 11), local media reported.

Police officers were using bodycams during the arrest and subsequent extradition of Duterte to The Hague.

On Thursday (March 13), the Philippine National Police (PNP) released a top-of-the head video showing the moment allegedly Avanceña attacked the unnamed police officer in the heat of Duterte’s boarding of a plane bound for The Hague.

Philippine authorities arrested Duterte on Tuesday morning upon his plane's arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from Hong Kong.

They carried an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) through Interpol.

Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity — widespread abuses against civilians from his time as mayor of Davao, until he became president.

Duterte and his companions were brought to Villamor Air Base to await a chartered flight to the UAE and later to the Netherlands.

In the video, Avanceña and her daughter with Duterte, Veronica (also known as "Kitty"), can be seen surrounded by SAF officers.

According to PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo, they were asking the mother and daughter to step aside to avoid obstructing Duterte’s transfer to the plane.

When Kitty was separated from her mother and police officers stood between them, Avanceña was heard shouting, “Give me back my daughter!”

In an attempt to push aside the officers blocking her, Avanceña struck one of them with a cellphone.

This may have caused the tear in Kitty’s top, which she later showed in an Instagram post.

The female officer who was hit suffered a bump and swelling on her head. According to Fajardo, the victim, with the support of the PNP, will file a complaint for direct assault.

After the commotion, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla stated that the government offered Avanceña a seat on Duterte’s plane, but she refused.

Duterte was flown to the Netherlands with former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, a nurse, and an assistant.

Representing the government, a delegate from the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, another doctor, and three police officers — a major, a lieutenant colonel, and a captain — also boarded the plane.