VP Duterte back in PH after assisting detained father in ICC

Metro Manila, Philippines - Vice President Sara Duterte has returned to the Philippines, nearly a month after she went to The Hague, Netherlands to assist her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte who is detained at the International Criminal Court.

The Office of the Vice President said the plane carrying Duterte landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday, at 9:56 p.m.

Duterte arrived in the Netherlands on March 13.

Her office said the vice president will address “pertinent matters” in the next few days.

Duterte earlier said she has finished her tasks in supporting her father in The Hague, noting that the former president’s defense team is already complete.

The vice president also said she and her siblings have already fixed their schedules in assisting the former president for April and May.

According to her, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte will go to The Hague after her sibling, Kitty and the former president’s common law partner, Honeylet.

“Para kung ano man yung allowed na visits para sa pamilya diyan sa loob, ay mayroon lagi family member na pumapasok doon at nakakausap ni Pangulong Duterte at nakakapagbigay ng updates sa kanya kung ano iyong nangyayari dito sa labas, kung ano yung nangyayari sa atin, sa Pilipinas, sa ating bayan,” she said in a previous interview.

[Translation: So that whatever the allowed visits are for family members inside, there is always a family member who goes in and talks to President Duterte, providing him with updates on what’s happening here outside, what’s going on with us, in the Philippines, in our country]

The former president is facing murder charges for crimes against humanity linked to his bloody drug war.