Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday reiterated her call for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to grant the interim release of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, emphasizing that he should be allowed to return to their hometown in Davao City due to his deteriorating health.
Speaking at a Senate press conference, the Vice President said her father requires round-the-clock care and would be better off under house arrest near his family.
“Kung ako, Davao City talaga. Davao City, Philippines. Kahit house arrest ‘yan doon, kahit na gusto ng ICC na ilibing sa ilalim ng bunker ‘yan na ‘yung house arrest niya, walang problema sa amin, gagawin namin ‘yan,” she stressed.
Sara Duterte added that granting the request could even encourage the former president to cooperate with the ICC’s proceedings. “In fact, I think it would be even better if his interim release be granted because we can encourage him to cooperate in the trial or hearings if there are any,” she said, underscoring that her family values their “word of honor.”
The Vice President recently raised alarm about her father’s condition, revealing that her family had received “credible” information that the former president was found unconscious in his detention quarters in The Hague. She clarified on Monday that the information did not come from the ICC but from a Filipino hospital worker.
When asked, Rodrigo Duterte reportedly confirmed the incident, telling his daughter that it was not the first time he had collapsed. “‘Natumba’ was his term,” Sara Duterte recounted.
She accused the ICC of failing to ensure her father’s well-being, describing his continued detention without a trial date as “cruelty.” “Keeping him in without a trial date, without a date for confirmation of charges is just plain cruelty. Pinapahirapan nila ang tao, naka-detain siya na para ba siyang kinulong nang hindi siya na-convict,” she said.
Rodrigo Duterte’s defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, earlier told the ICC that the former president is suffering from memory lapses and cannot recall people, places, or even close family members. This prompted the tribunal to postpone the confirmation of charges hearing initially set for September 23, citing concerns that Duterte was “not fit to stand trial.”
While Sara Duterte revealed that a third country has offered to host her father, she declined to disclose which nation expressed willingness.