Dad Rodrigo Duterte in good condition under ICC custody, says Baste

Former President Rodrigo Duterte is currently in good condition while remaining under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte said Tuesday. 

The younger Duterte said his 80-year-old father is in sound mind but has since gotten thinner due to loss of appetite. 

"Any other person that would be in detention would be depressed and you would have trouble eating because you won’t want to eat. You would lose your appetite," the acting mayor said.

"But cognitively, he’s okay, but he’s not a young person, he’s old. He is ok physically but he has lost weight because, as how I see it, he hasn’t been eating properly due to lack of appetite," he said.

The younger Duterte also said he is set to fly to The Netherlands to visit the ex-Philippine leader in detention.

"What’s being done to him now is very unjust. But, it’s ok. He is still our mayor," he said.

"I am the acting mayor. He has been mayor here for several years already. Let’s just follow his direction as we have done so in the past. That’s what being a Davaoeño is," he added.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11 based on a warrant issued by the ICC.

He is currently detained at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague on crimes against humanity charges in connection with the killings under his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was president of the Philippines.

Earlier this month, his defense team has asked the Appeals Chamber of the ICC to disqualify Prosecutor Karim Khan from the case on the ground that he "failed to disclose a grievous conflict of interest."

Government records showed that there were over 6,000 drug suspects killed in police operations during the previous administration's drug war. Human rights organizations, however, said that the death toll may have reached 30,000 due to unreported incidents. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News