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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
May 30, 2025 | 12:00am
Photo taken on March 14 shows Vice President Sara Duterte arriving to address people gathered outside the ICC in The Hague.
AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has arrived in The Hague, Netherlands where she will spend her birthday with detained former president Rodrigo Duterte and lead the campaign to bring home her father.
The Vice President said that a series of campaigns to call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to send home the former president will be held in various countries in the next few days.
“I will not have a birthday celebration for this year. Everything is for the ICC case. We have a series of ‘ICC send him (Duterte) home’ rallies in different countries. We are just getting the permits from the local governments where the rallies will be held,” she said.
On her birthday on May 31, a rally will be held outside the Scheveningen Prison at The Hague as part of the campaign.
The Vice President is expected to return to the country on June 4.
Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos, who accompanied the Vice President, posted a photo with Duterte’s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman during their meeting in The Hague.
“More than anyone, I know the feeling of being away from my country so from the very start she knows how I feel about what happened to PRRD,” she said, referring to former president Duterte.
The senator has turned against her brother, President Marcos, and sided with the Dutertes.
“I did not wait 39 years just to make a mistake again, there is a Marcos who learned from history. I am not here just for one person but for the Filipino people. Thank you, attorney Nicholas Kaufman. Together, we will bring PRRD home,” Senator Marcos added.
In a message to The STAR, Kaufman said he welcomed his meeting with President Marcos’ sister.
“I am happy to meet any prominent and influential person from the Philippines – on whatever side of the political spectrum – in pursuit of the defense of former president Rodrigo Duterte,” he said.
Panelo slams Imee
On the other hand, former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo criticized the presence of Senator Marcos in The Hague to join the Vice President.
“It is only natural for a daughter to visit her father,” Panelo said, noting that the Vice President can still perform her functions while she is in The Hague.
However, Panelo questioned the presence of the senator who he said is intruding by joining the Vice President.
“She is really forcing herself, nagsusumiksik,” Panelo said.
Prior to this, Senator Marcos also accompanied the Vice President in Doha, Qatar to meet with members of the Filipino community over a month after the arrest of 17 Filipinos for illegal protest in support of the former president.
Panelo also hit back at President Marcos, saying that while the Chief Executive claims he does not run away from problems, he does not offer solutions.
“That’s the problem, you do not run away from the problem but you fail to offer a solution, especially the illegal arrest (of former president Duterte),” Panelo said in an interview with SMNI.
Recently in Kuala Lumpur, Marcos said he is not the type who escapes from problems as he vowed to carry out a “deeper” review of the performance of his officials to improve the quality of service rendered by the government.
Allies of Duterte demanded Marcos’ resignation after the President had directed members of his Cabinet to submit their courtesy resignation to give him the leeway to assess the performance of each department. — Janvic Mateo, Evelyn Macairan
