All Duterte Siblings Allowed To Visit Former President Rodrigo
All the Duterte siblings visited their father, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, inside the ICC detention facility.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is under the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands since March. He is faced with an allegation of crimes against humanity over the war on drugs of his administration.
Duterte’s legal team is composed of all foreign lawyers led by British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman. Around a month ahead of the scheduled hearing for the confirmation of charges, the camp of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte renewed their appeal for his interim release from the ICC detention facility to an undisclosed country.
The former President’s lawyers initially filed the request in June but, after a short while, asked the ICC to hold off in making a decision while they await some documents and information that will support their bid.
Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, on the interim release of her father, claimed that not all the needs of the 80-year-old former President can be provided inside the ICC detention facility. According to the Vice President, her father can be considered a “super senior” citizen and may be taken cared of better if there is a nurse or a caregiver for him.
The Duterte siblings as well as the former President’s ex-wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and his common-law wife, Honeylet Avanceña, have taken turns in visiting him inside the ICC detention facility in the past few months. Meanwhile, recently, all four (4) children of the former President were allowed to visit him together.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the visit of the Duterte siblings to former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte took place on Wednesday and he was happy to see all of his children. According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, they mostly talked about family matters and not politics.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte revealed that it was really their father’s request that they will be allowed by the ICC to visit him altogether inside the detention center in The Hague. According to her, they will do what will make their father happy.
“Kung ano ang makakapagpasaya sa kanya, iyon lang ang gagawin. So nag-request siya ng personal na pagkikita na kaming lima so binigay namin sa kanya iyon,” the Vice President said.
Based on the report, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte further shared that it was Friday last week when former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte was informed that all his children were allowed to visit him. With the complete presence of the Duterte siblings, they were quite loud during their visit to their father.
“Medyo maingay kanina kasi tatlo, apat kami na sabay sabay na nagsasalita. At one point sinabi ni Baste na hindi na ako magsasalita kasi walang nakikinig sa akin. Medyo siguro namiss niya iyong ganoong discussions. Labo labo, sabay sabay nagsasalita lahat. Masaya siya na nakapunta kaming apat,” the younger Duterte said.
The confirmation of charges against Duterte is set on September 23. Prior to the visit of the Duterte siblings to their father, it was confirmed that Honeylet Avanceña was suspended by the ICC from visiting former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte inside the detention facility.