Honeylet says she's suspended from visiting Duterte in ICC detention

Former President Rodrigo Duterte's common-law partner, Honeylet Avanceña, said her visitation rights to the detained former leader at the International Criminal Court detention facility had been suspended.

According to Marisol Abdurahman's report on "24 Oras," Avanceña said she was told about her suspension during her last visit to Duterte.

"'Nung time na yun, five minutes bago matapos, sinabihan na lang ako na isusupend daw ako. Ang sabi pa nga ni PRD doon sa lalaki na ‘you cannot do that’ kasi nga he’s expecting me. This is my time right now. This is my schedule to visit him. Tapos the following day, wala na akong visit,” Avanceña said.

(During that time, just five minutes before my visit ended, I was told that I was going to be suspended. Duterte even told the man, ‘You cannot do that,’ because he was expecting me. It was my scheduled time to visit him. Then the next day, I was no longer allowed to visit.)

Avanceña noted that her suspension was related to a call with Duterte on July 19, when she was supposed to have commented on the case. She said she didn't know anything about the issue.

She blamed Duterte's ICC-listed defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman.

"I have nothing against you, pero please do not deprive us of asking other people or asking legal opinions from other lawyers also. We acknowledge you as his lawyer," Avanceña said.

"You know, I know you are protecting your real practice. I don’t know if you’re trying to prove something [but] we are concerned about the life of this man,” she added.

When asked about the legal basis of Avanceña’s suspension of visitation rights, Kaufman refused to comment on the matter.

“For judicial reasons and out of respect for family privacy, I am not going to comment on the veracity of Honeylet Avanceña’s allegations concerning her presence not being desired at the ICC detention centre,” Kaufman said.

“Honeylet Avanceña, so it would appear, is emotionally distressed for reasons on which, as I mentioned previously, I cannot elaborate. As a consequence, she is making all sorts of wild allegations which are being stoked by others,” he added.

Kaufman further said, “The simple fact of the matter is that the Vice President, as a lawyer herself, is fully qualified to judge the quality of my engagement with and work for the former president.”

GMA Integrated News has reached out to Vice President Sara Duterte for comment.

Kaufman also said visiting rights were not determined by the counsel but by the detention center authorities, with the intervention of the judges when necessary.

“The former President’s health is being adequately managed and overseen by all those currently in daily contact with him,” Kaufman said. –Mariel Celine Serquiña/NB, GMA Integrated News