Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s two elder children yesterday flew off separately to the Netherlands to join their father as he faces trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC), but not before securing the obligatory travel authorities from their supervising offices.
In a statement Wednesday, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Office of the President granted Vice President Sara Duterte her travel authority Tuesday evening.
“The Office of the President issued travel authority to VP Sara as of last night, 8 p.m.,” she wrote.
“PCO was not [immediately] informed about this because of her right to privacy, and it may be too confidential on her part,” Castro added.
According to the Office of the Vice President, Duterte departed from Manila Wednesday morning via Emirates flight no. EK 337 bound for Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, Davao City Representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte secured his travel clearance from House of Representatives Secretary General Reginald Velasco on Wednesday.
The document stated that Rep. Duterte would be on a personal trip to the Netherlands and Japan for a duration exceeding one month.
“We got the request [from Congressman Paolo] yesterday, actually, last night. We granted it [travel clearance]. It was for March 12 to April 15,” Velasco told reporters.
“This is just ministerial [work on my part] because this is a personal trip, no public funds will be used, so we grant this type of request,” he added.
The Duterte patriarch was flown via chartered flight on Tuesday evening for a layover in Dubai before heading to Rotterdam.
On Tuesday morning, ranking Philippine National Police officers arrested the former president on the strength of an ICC warrant issued through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), of which the Philippines is a member.
Duterte’s camp has since questioned the Philippine government’s cooperation with the global tribunal, turning to the Supreme Court (SC) to work towards the repatriation of the ex-president.
President Marcos, however, has maintained that the Philippine government only complied with Interpol’s request in a spirit of reciprocity and good international citizenship.