Vice President Sara Duterte and former president Rodrigo Duterte (Screenshot from Bong Go, Veronica Duterte Facebook pages)
Former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is detained in The Hague, is leaving his fate to God, Vice President Sara Duterte said.
In an interview with reporters in The Hague after visiting her father, the Vice President shared what she and the former president talked about.
“So be it. He was referring to his fate. Sabi niya, ipapasa-Diyos ko na iyan lahat. And ano ba iyong sinabi niya, ipapasa-Diyos ko na iyan lahat kung anong mangyari sa buhay ko (He said, ‘I leave it all to God. What did he say, ‘I leave it all to God, whatever happens to my life). So be it,” she said on Friday, March 23 (Netherlands time).
In June 2018, then president Duterte called God “stupid” in a speech in his hometown of Davao City, criticizing the Biblical story of the Creation and Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden after eating the forbidden fruit.
When asked if her father has already accepted that he might not return to the Philippines, the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and Duterte supporters surrounding the Vice President jeered and booed.
But the official also admitted it was her who said in a recent Senate hearing on her father’s arrest that the former president might not return home to the Philippines.
“So kahit na anong pagtatalunan nila doon (Regardless of the arguments there [in the Senate]), whether it was a kidnapping, it was an extraordinary rendition, it was correct or not correct, hindi na nila maibabalik iyan kasi nandiyan siya sa loob (they cannot return him anymore because he’s already inside),” she said.
“Hindi nila iyan makukuha at maibalik doon (They cannot get him back and return him). The only way na makalabas siya (for him to be released) is through the system inside the ICC,” she added.
Several legal experts also opined that Duterte’s fate inside the ICC rests only on the judges’ decision, and that the ICC will not relinquish its jurisdiction even if the former president’s arrest was deemed illegal.
The Vice President, however, refused to respond to questions asking if their family and legal team are confident that there is hope for the Duterte patriarch to return home.
“Best siguro if you ask Attorney Kaufman. Ganoon talaga ang buhay, ma’am (It’s best if you ask Attorney Kaufman. That’s how life is, ma’am),” she said.
Birthday card
The Vice President shared that she has sent a birthday card to her father to make sure that he will get it before his birthday on March 28.
She, however, said that they’ll be seeing each other this week before his birthday on Friday, and that she would have time to ask about his thoughts and birthday wishes.
“Hindi ko pa siya natanong. Kasi makikita pa rin naman kami bukas and next week bago mag-birthday... So tatanong ko siya kung ano ‘yung mga thoughts niya about his birthday (I haven't asked him yet. Because we will see each other tomorrow or next week before his birthday… So, I’ll ask him what are his thoughts about his birthday),” Duterte added.
Duterte supporters are scheduled to hold a rally in The Hague in time for the former chief executive’s birthday on March 28.
More of the Duterte family members are expected to arrive in The Hague.
The Vice President confirmed that Honeylet and Veronica, her father’s common-law wife and daughter, respectively, are scheduled to arrive.
Her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, the former president’s first wife, will also arrive soon, she said.
Duterte’s constitutional rights
Reelectionist Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa reiterated that the Marcos administration violated former president Rodrigo Duterte’s constitutional rights when it handed him over to the ICC.
Dela Rosa made the remark echoing a lawyer’s view on the government’s move to surrender the former leader to the ICC during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on the issue.
The senatorial candidate lamented that politics have blinded the government’s standards when it comes to recognizing the guarantees given to every Filipino by the Constitution.
The senator said Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, and the rest of the members of the Marcos Cabinet should remember that the “symbol of justice is blindfolded because there should be no bias when it comes to the implementation and observance of the law.”
“Hindi lang mga taga-suporta ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang mismong nagsabi na may paglabag sa karaparatan ng ating kapwa Pilipino sa pagsuko kanya sa ICC (It is not only supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte who themselves said that there was a violation of the rights of our fellow Filipinos in surrendering him to the ICC),” Dela Rosa said.
Former president Duterte and Dela Rosa earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to permanently prohibit the Philippine government from cooperating with the ICC.
Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, was Duterte’s chief implementor of his war on drugs. (With a report from Hannah Torregoza)