This December 30, 2019 photo shows then-President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, then-Davao City Mayor now Vice President Sara Duterte during the commemoration of the 123rd Anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park in Davao City. RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said she would not return to the Philippines from The Netherlands until she forms the legal team of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In an interview on Friday night (Manila time), after her father’s initial appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Vice President Duterte said her father repeatedly told her to leave him and return to the Philippines.
“I will be here until the legal team is doing their work already and another relative is here to assist him,” she said.
“He said I should immediately go back, just leave him here, but I said ‘no.’ I cannot do that because no one will decide for him outside,” she added. “Very limited people have access to him right now, so I told him that I just have to form a legal team, and then I can work remotely in the Philippines, talking to the legal team.”
The vice president also said that while her father did not express fears that some people might take advantage of her absence, he kept insisting that she return to the Philippines.
Duterte arrived in The Netherlands on Wednesday night (Manila time) and was turned over to the ICC.
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He was the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC over crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.
Earlier on Friday, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug told reporters that preparations are ongoing in the Senate for the impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte, including the fitting of robes for senator-judges.
Senate President Francis Escudero said that the impeachment trial would commence after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address in July.