Former President Rodrigo Duterte is now in Hong Kong. He left the Philippines on Friday morning aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX912 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 3, a Bureau of Immigration (BI) official has confirmed.
The BI officer, who asked not to be named, said the former President was allowed to travel to attend a thanksgiving event in Hong Kong. This is despite an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into his controversial anti-drug campaign.
Based on immigration records, Duterte flew to Hong Kong with his wife, former first lady Honeylet Avanceña, and their daughter Victoria ‘Kitty’ Duterte.
Also joining the trip were former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, former Philippine National Police (PNP) intelligence director Nelson Quinsay and his wife, former PNP official Filmore Escobal and his wife, and former National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) director-general Alex Paul Monteagudo.
The BI said Duterte and his companions underwent the normal immigration departure clearance and final security check before boarding.
The reasons behind Duterte’s unannounced trip are not clear, leading to various speculations about his departure.
Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that Duterte might be seeking to evade a potential arrest by the ICC.