There will be no official photo of former president Rodrigo Duterte released by his lawyers because it is not allowed, Vice President Sara Duterte disclosed on Friday, July 18.
Duterte lawyers won't release photo of ex-president—VP Sara
Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman (Screengrab from ICC, ABS-CBN News videos)
Speaking with supporters outside the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands, where her father is being detained for crimes against humanity of murder, the Vice President gave an update about his health and any plans to give the public a glimpse of the former president.
“Nagsabi siya bawal daw sa mga lawyers na mag-release o kumuha man lang ng picture ng kanilang client at pag ginawa niya daw yon baka tanggalin siya as lawyer (He said that lawyers are not allowed to release or even just to take photos of their clients and if he does that, he might be removed as a lawyer),” she told the crowd there.
The official assured that her father is “okay” and that if he could only attend the “Free Duterte Rally” scheduled on Saturday, July 19, he would do so.
However, she admitted that her father has lost a lot of weight because he wasn’t able to eat the kinds of food that he wants, such as stir-fried monggo, as they are not allowed by the detention facility to bring outside food.
The younger Duterte earlier slammed as “fake” the viral photo showing her father looking “malnourished” and “weak,” stressing that the former chief executive was not even in the detention facility’s hospital wing.
While she said that her father has lost a lot of weight since being detained in The Hague, she also insisted that he’s fine and just looks “slim.”
Meanwhile, she also had a discussion about “life and death” with her father, as the elder Duterte already shared his “last wishes” with his daughter.
“That is one matter as well that we discussed earlier with PRD. But not about the strength to go on. It was about life and death,” she said.
“And then I told him, because he was giving somehow last wishes about what to do with his motorcycles, those kinds of things. And about the cremation again. So, I told him that it is not a problem with me because life and death is a matter of fact with me,” she added.
For the Vice President, it is of no use for someone to feel “self-pity,” “depression,” or “sadness” because of her father’s detention, adding that person in that situation can “maybe write a book, maybe exercise,” or “get another degree.”
“Life and death is a matter of fact to me. So, if I'm tired, I need to rest. If I'm hungry, I need to eat. It's like that with me. So, I don't look at it as challenges or problems. I look at it as a way to create solutions,” she stressed.