House grants Rep. Paolo Duterte travel authority to Netherlands

Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte —Photo from the Davao City Public Information Office

MANILA, Philippines — Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte has been issued a travel authority to fly off to the Netherlands and Japan from March 12 to 15,  House of Representatives Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed on Wednesday.

Velasco said this on Wednesday during a phone interview with reporters covering the House in response to rumors that the representative and other relatives of former President Rodrigo Duterte followed him to the Hague in the Netherlands after his arrest.

“We got the request yesterday — actually last night — and we granted it.  It’s a travel clearance. That means no government expense. That his personal funds,” Velasco said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“He specified on his request: The Hague, Netherlands, and Japan. Supposedly, he put in his request March 12, which is today, up to April 15, if I’m not mistaken,” he added.

READ; Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague

According to Velasco, the process is merely ministerial as the House had granted travel authority in the past to lawmakers, even for those who have filed it on short notice.

“Hindi kasi ito naman, ministerial naman ‘to eh.  ‘Pagka personal trip kasi, no funds of the government will be involved, we grant this type of request,” he said.

“This is just ministerial. If the lawmaker will make a personal trip, and no funds of the government will be involved, we grant this type of request,” he said.

“There’s no problem, as long as he does not leave the country without asking for a travel clearance. We have an understanding with the congressmen. Sometimes they would like to make the trip urgently, so we just issue the travel clearance when it’s ready,” he added.

On Tuesday morning, after arriving from Hong Kong, former President Duterte was stopped from leaving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 as the Philippine National Police assisted the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in enforcing the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest order.

The arrest order for Duterte was for his crimes against humanity case at the ICC arising from his bloody drug war.

READ: Rodrigo Duterte now under police custody

Duterte, his relatives, lawyers, and allies initially questioned the arrest, but the former president eventually boarded a chartered plane at Villamor Air Base, which left Manila for the Netherlands a few minutes after 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

READ: Plane carrying Rodrigo Duterte leaves PH for The Hague

As early as last Saturday, talks about the ICC possibly releasing an arrest order against Duterte mounted. During this time, the former president, his relatives, and his key allies flew to Hong Kong to meet overseas Filipino workers.

In Hong Kong, the older Duterte addressed talks about the arrest order, saying that his actions during the drug war were for the Philippines’ benefit.

READ: Duterte on possible ICC arrest warrant: I did everything for Filipinos

However, several official and independent investigations of the drug war have shown that there were many instances where innocent individuals were dragged into the anti-drug operations.

In August 2017, 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was summarily executed in Caloocan City even if he was not the original target of the operation.

The three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos were convicted of murder.