VP Sara airs concern over PH embassy ‘welfare check’ on ex-Pres. Duterte

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday raised concern regarding a “welfare check” that was supposedly conducted by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague to her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, while in detention. 

Sara Duterte said that she received such “disturbing information” from Malacañang that a report about her father was submitted to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by the embassy. 

“The officials entered the detention unit under the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check’ and interviewed FPRRD. The said officials clearly abused the rule of the detention unit concerning consular visits,” the Vice President said. 

“The permission given by the ICC in allowing the agents of the very government that abducted FPRRD to intrude upon him, without seeking permission from family members who are in the Hague, places his life and safety in imminent danger,” she added. 

Sara Duterte said that since Rodrigo was arrested and brought to The Hague in March this year, there has always been at least a family member or two that visit him almost daily to “guarantee his well-being and humane treatment.”

Thus, she emphasized, her father does not need the Philippine government to visit him and their family will be the ones to take care of him.

“If such sham ‘welfare checks’ are allowed to continue, then the ICC and the Philippine Government must be prepared to answer, fully and directly, for any harm that comes to Former President Duterte —including, should the worst happen, his death in custody as a direct result of these intrusions, the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check,’” VP Sara said. 

“These are nothing but orders of President Marcos disguised as consular functions, and we strongly object to such visits. FPRRD does not need you, our family will take care of him,” she continued.

In a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the Department of Foreign Affairs would respond on the matter.

''Ang statement po na iyan ng Bise Presidente, ang tutugon po diyan ay ang DFA,'' she said.

(The DFA will answer the Vice President's statement.)

Castro, however, reacted on the statement of the Vice President that several overseas Filipinos were detained, distressed abandoned, and neglected, and that they were supposedly not being checked by the government. 

She said it was a huge lie. 

''Iyan po ay malaking kasinungalingan,'' Castro said. ''Nakausap po natin si Undersecretary Bernard Olalia, at tinanong po natin kung ano ang masasabi ng nasabing ahensiya. Mayroon po tayong Migrant Workers Office o MWO na nasa mga destinasyon or mga bansa na malakas or malaki ang populasyon; ito ay headed by labor attaché.''

''So, lahat po ng mga kinakailangan or pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan sa ibang bansa especially the OFWs ay tinutugunan ng ating gobyerno at iyan din po ang nais ng ating Pangulo – lahat ng pangangailangan ng mga OFWs, ng mga kababayan natin na nasa ibang bansa, dapat matugunan agad-agad,'' she added.

(That is a huge lie. We talked to Undersecretary Bernard Olalia, and we asked what his agency has to say. We have  Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in destinations or countries with sizable populations. This is headed by a labor attaché.

So, every concern or need of our countrymen in other countries. especially OFWs are addressed by our government and this is also what our President wants– everything the OFWs need, our countrymen overseas, they should be immediately assisted.)

The Duterte patriarch was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11, based on a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

He is currently detained in The Hague for charges of crimes against humanity for alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration's drug war. 

The ICC earlier disclosed the criminal charges Rodrigo Duterte is facing before the tribunal involving 49 incidents of murder and attempted murder in his war on drugs as crimes against humanity when he was mayor of Davao City and as president of the Philippines.—AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News