VP Sara: 'Third country' committed to host dad Rodrigo Duterte in interim release

Vice President Sara Duterte over the weekend said a third country has already expressed approval to host her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is now detained in The Hague, Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity due to his bloody war on illegal drugs.

Speaking before the Filipino crowd in Japan, the younger Duterte said a third country has already been secured, as she said she personally negotiated with foreign contacts to find a host country, as she could not trust anyone in the Philippines to help.

“Kung makikita niyo sa ICC (International Criminal Court) website, meron ng third country doon. Meron ng isang bansa na nagsabi na ‘Okay lang,’ na ‘Dito ninyo ilagay si Dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte’,” she said on Saturday, September 20.

(If you look at the ICC website, there is already a third country there. There is already one country that said ‘It’s okay,’ that ‘You place former President Rodrigo Duterte here.)

Duterte did not specify the country, but said that it is not Japan. Australia has also earlier said that it has declined to host the former president.

The lawyer of the elder Duterte in June asked the ICC for an interim release and that he be released to an unnamed country, saying that he does not meet any of the conditions to warrant further pre-trial detention as he does not pose an objective flight risk.

“Medyo natagalan ang pag-file namin ng interim release dahil kinausap pa namin at naghanap pa ako ng tutulong sa akin dahil wala akong mapagkakatiwalaan doon sa Pilipinas. Ginamit ko ang aking mga nakilala sa labas ng Pilipinas dahil sa aking trabaho, nakiusap ako sa kanila na tulungan ninyo kami,” the younger Duterte said.

“So medyo matagal ‘yun dahil hindi madali makipag-negosasyon sa isang bansa. Pero sabi ko nga, dahil sa pagdarasal ninyo, may mga good news na nangyari, so mayroong isang bansa na nagsabi, ‘Sige, okay’,” she added.

(It took us a while to file the interim release because I still had to talk to people and look for someone who could help me since I cannot trust anyone in the Philippines. I relied on people I met outside the Philippines through my work and I asked them for help.

So it took some time because negotiating with a country is not easy. But as I said, because of your prayers, some good news happened, there is one country that said ‘Alright, okay.’)

For its part, the Office of the Prosecutor in the ICC has asked the tribunal to reject the bid for interim release, saying that Duterte’s continued detention is necessary to ensure his appearance during trial, as he does not accept the legitimacy of the legal proceedings against him.

In a submission dated August 28, it also opposed a renewed request for interim release, citing the same reason, and to ensure that he does not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings, and prevent him from continuing with the commission of crimes or related crimes.

Two Philippine organizations that have been assisting the families of the victims of the war on drugs believe that an interim release is unwarranted, citing the risk of interference with the investigations and the security of witnesses and victims as Duterte continued to wield considerable power.

Duterte, who repeatedly said he will accept full legal responsibility for the consequences of his bloody campaign against illegal drugs, was brought to The Hague in The Netherlands in March to be tried for crimes against humanity.

Police records show that deaths under the drug war reached 6,000, but human rights groups contend that these were as much as 30,000, including vigilante killings.

One of his legal counsel, lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, said Duterte is being “illegally detained” and should be brought back to the Philippines “as soon as possible.” —LDF, GMA Integrated News