‘I will not leave’: VP Duterte to stay near father in ICC

Metro Manila, Philippines - Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday said she will stay in the Netherlands to accompany her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained at The Hague, until a next of kin arrives to replace her.

The vice president arrived at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ahead of the initial appearance of the Duterte patriarch before the tribunal's pre-trial chamber.

“I will not leave until a relative comes to make sure that there is a next of kin living with him,” she told a crowd of reporters and supporters.

Duterte, who was allowed to meet with her father for an hour after the pre-trial hearing, said she was asked by the ex-chief executive to head back to the Philippines.

“When we talked, as a request, he asked me to go home. He repeatedly said: ‘Do not leave the country. Do not leave the Philippines,’” she said.

“I told him: ‘I know, I understand that and I do not want to be here as well.’ Unfortunately, I am the only one [in the family] who has a Schengen visa and I am the only one who is a lawyer,” VP Duterte added.

The vice president said she will be returning to the country “immediately” once the Duterte camp has met with the legal team.

She also said they were unable to talk about his initial virtual appearance before the chamber.

Duterte also relayed a message to her father’s supporters, urging them to remain calm amid the tension.

“Sa ngayon, ibigay mo muna sa akin ang mensahe mo para sa kanila,” she said. “Sabi niya, ‘Relax lang, may hangganan ang lahat. A day of reckoning will come.’”

[Translation: For now, give me your message to them. He said “Just relax, everything has an end. A day of reckoning will come.]

The former president is accused of committing murder, qualified as a crime against humanity, allegedly between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019, in the Philippines as part of his administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs.