Former Executive Sec. Salvador Medialdea Visits Former Pres. Duterte Again
MEDIALDEA – The former executive secretary gave an update about former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who is currently detained at the Hague, Netherlands.
A week ago, countless Filipinos were shocked when former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte was arrested and was sent to Dubai en route for the Netherlands on the same day. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has reportedly released an arrest warrant against Duterte.
The ICC has long been investigating the war on drugs of the Duterte administration. In 2019, Duterte removed the Philippines from the jurisdiction of the ICC following an attempt of the international court to probe his administration’s campaign against drugs.
The ICC welcomed the arrest of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte as well as the transfer of his custody. He is currently detained at the ICC detention facility in Scheveningen. His listed legal counsel is former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Former ES Salvador Medialdea was one of the three (3) people who accompanied former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to the Netherlands. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group or CIDG previously claimed that Honeylet Avanceña allegedly refused to go with Duterte, thus, they chose Medialdea to replace her.
Recently, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea was able to visit former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the ICC detention facility for the second time. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, he said the former Chief Executive is fine but misses Pinoy foods.
“Okay naman siya, he’s in very high spirits … Ano lang siya, naiisip niya ang mga sumusuporta sa kanya, nagpapasalamat siya sa inyong lahat. Isa sa medyo namimiss niya yung kanyang usual na kinakain, yung tuyo, yung munggo, at higit sa lahat yung piniritong saging… Other than that, he’s okay, ipagdasal, keep on praying for him,” Medialdea said.
Based on the report, the former Executive Secretary confirmed that Duterte is still in the hospital wing of the detention facility. Aside from Medialdea, former presidential spokesman Harry Roque is also set to join the legal team of Duterte.
Roque said he has filed an application be one of the lawyers of Duterte. He is an accredited lawyer of the ICC and another ICC lawyer has filed his application to be a legal counsel of the former President. Amid the calls for his return to the Philippines, Harry Roque plans to seek asylum at the Netherlands.