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Delon Porcalla - The Philippine Star
December 10, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — For the second time this year, Davao City First District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte has asked the House of Representatives to allow him to travel for nearly two months across 17 countries – once again without citing a specific purpose for the trip.
In a single-page letter dated Dec. 1, Pulong requested Speaker Faustino Dy III to issue a new travel clearance, similar to the authority granted to him in March by then-speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
“This is to request for a travel clearance for my upcoming travel to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, US, Australia, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore from 15th of December 2025 to Feb. 20, 2026,” Pulong wrote in the letter.
“Rest assured that the expenses that will be incurred from this trip are from my personal funds alone. In addition, this is also to seek your kind indulgence in allowing this Representation to attend the scheduled plenary sessions and meetings virtually from the aforementioned dates,” he added.
Duterte made a similar request in March, when Romualdez approved his plea to extend an earlier travel authority, covering 17 countries from March 20 to May 10.
He had initially flown to the Netherlands and Japan after accompanying his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, on March 11, when their father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested and brought to The Hague, where he faces trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He told Romualdez then that all expenses would be paid from his “personal funds” and sought a revised travel clearance for his March 12 to April 15 trip.
But before March ended, his plans expanded significantly to include 17 destinations across three continents until May 10.
On March 17, he also filed another revised authority for a “personal trip to London and China from March 17 to April 20,” covering the Holy Week period from April 14 to 20.
Based on the final March travel clearance, Duterte’s itinerary from March 20 to May 10 covered Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the United States, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
Duterte’s health
Meanwhile, speaking on One News’ “Storycon” yesterday, ICC-accredited lawyer Gilbert Andres said the conclusions of the three medical experts who examined Rodrigo Duterte have already been submitted and will be publicly posted on the ICC website. Stakeholders’ submissions are due on Dec. 12.
Andres clarified that the experts were not asked to determine Duterte’s “fitness to stand trial” – a term not found in the Rome Statute. They are tasked only to assess “medical conditions that may affect his participation in proceedings.”
He also explained how an ICC arrest warrant – if issued – could reach Philippine authorities even after the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute.
Any warrant, he said, may pass through Interpol under a memorandum of agreement with the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, with diffusion notices directed to the Philippines.
Local agencies, he added, can act on such warrants under Republic Act 9851, the country’s law on genocide and crimes against humanity. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Mark Ernest Villeza
