After arrest of Duterte patriarch, VP Sara expects she’s ‘next target’ of ICC

Vice President Sara Duterte said Tuesday night, March 11, that she is expecting she would be the “next target” of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after authorities arrested her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The Vice President tried to enter Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to meet his father, but the police and soldiers denied her entry until the plane bearing the Duterte patriarch left for The Hague, Netherlands, where he is facing a case for crimes against humanity over his administration’s bloody “war on drugs”.

“Oo, sinabihan ako ng nanay ko, sabi niya mag-ingat ka dahil ikaw ang susunod (Yes, I was told by my mother [Elizabeth Zimmerman-Duterte] to be careful because I would be next). My mother told me I would be the next target of the ICC,” she told reporters.

The Vice President faces four impeachment cases due to alleged mishandling of confidential funds and her alleged role in supposed extrajudicial killings committed under the Duterte administration’s drug war, among other reasons.

She said she is ready to face all the allegations being hurled against her.

“We already started to prepare but I have a different set of lawyers than President Duterte so we have a book about what to do and all the research materials about the ICC. So that is what we did and we shared our drafted petition, we had two for me, we shared it with the team of PRRD,” the Vice President said.

However, she admitted that she is concerned about the legal fees that she needs to shoulder.

"Naiisip ko lang ang gastos sa abogado. Magastos kasi ang mga abogado so ‘yun lang naman ang concern natin sa ngayon. But so far napaghandaan din naman ang mga gastos para sa mga abogado so okay lang (I’m just thinking about the legal fees for the lawyers. The legal fees for the lawyers are costly so that is my only concern for now. But so far, we have prepared for all the fees so it’s okay),” she said.

The Vice President also denied claims that his father tried to seek asylum in China, but was not granted with, when he went to Hong Kong the day prior.

“Wala (None), I was there in Hong Kong. Wala siyang kausap from Chinese government (He did not talk to anyone from the Chinese government),” the Vice President said.

“In fact, sabi niya kung maaalala niyo 4 p.m. ang flight niya sa Cathay Pacific ‘di ba? Sabi niya agahan natin ng 7 a.m. para makabalik na ako sa Pilipinas (In fact, if you would remember, his flight at the Cathay Pacific was at 4 p.m. right? But he said that we should take an earlier flight at 7 a.m. so he could return already to the Philippines). That was willingly surrendering himself to the jurisdiction of Philippine authorities, not the ICC,” she said.