Vice President Sara Duterte said that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, will not have the traditional Christmas and New Year get-together this year because he will remain in detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the official shared that Veronica or “Kitty” and Mira are scheduled to visit her father over the holidays.

“Kasi sa Christmas and New Year sa kanya, hindi. Kasi hindi makapunta ang lahat ng relatives doon sa The Hague. So, ang naka-schedule for Christmas and New Year sa kanya is si Veronica--si Kitty, at si Mira (For Christmas and New Year, not all the relatives can go there in The Hague. So, the ones who are scheduled for Christmas and New Year are Veronica--that’s Kitty, and Mira),” she said.

Kitty is the elder Duterte’s only daughter with partner Honeylet Avanceña, while Mira is believed to be the granddaughter of Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte. Mira apparently grew up with the former president and Honeylet.

This schedule, however, was not born out of the ICC’s pre-trial chamber’s denial of the former president’s interim release bid.

“Kahit naman wala pa yung desisyon ng interim release ay napag-usapan na ng family na merong pagpapalit-palitan sa pagbibisita doon sa kanya sa detention unit (Even without the interim release decision, the family already talked that there should always be someone to visit him there in the detention unit),” she said.

Meanwhile, the Vice President refused to further comment on the denial of her father’s interim release request that could have sent him to a third country.

She said that she would rather wait for the decision of the ICC’s appeal chamber before sharing her comments.

The defense team of the former president has appealed the pre-trial chamber’s decision, which cited, among others, the younger Duterte’s remarks about wanting to break her father out from the detention unit.

“So, gusto ko lang antayin yung lumabas ang desisyon ng korte doon sa appeal ng defense team (So, I like to wait for the decision of the court on the appeal of the defense team),” she said.

The official also shrugged off the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed five out of 10 Filipinos believe that the former president must be held accountable in the ICC for the drug war killings during his administration.

The Vice President explained that even assuming that the data in the survey are “truthful” and “faithful,” it wouldn’t matter because it's “not useful” as his case is not being tried in the Philippines.

She, however, thanked the Senate for its resolution calling on the ICC to return the former leader to the Philippines and put him under house arrest for humanitarian reasons.