Leaving the Netherlands is not an option for Vice President Sara Duterte at the moment as she intends to stay until another family member arrives to ensure her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is not left alone.
Speaking to reporters outside of the ICC detention facility Friday, the Vice President said her father had repeatedly urged her to return to the Philippines during their one-hour visit.
“I will not leave until a relative comes to make sure there is a next of kin,” said the younger Duterte, also facing an upcoming impeachment trial in the Philippines.
“When we talked, as a request, he asked me to go home. He repeatedly said, ‘Do not leave the country. Do not leave the Philippines.’ He said I should already go back and leave him here. But I said I cannot immediately go back because no one will decide for him outside. Very limited people have access to him right now,” she added.
Only allowed to meet her father in the ICC’s visiting area and not inside the detention facility, she assured the public the former president was in “good spirit.”
“He is well taken care of. He just commented that he really misses Filipino food, that’s all. Very recently their meal had rice, so that was a good development,” she said.
The Vice President confirmed arrangements are already underway to grant family members access to her father and that she is working on assembling his legal team while in the Netherlands.
“So I told him that I just have to form that legal team, then I can work remotely in the Philippines talking to the legal team. And then, yes, they just need the next of kin to come here. And everyone’s applying for a visa right now,” she said.
Malacañang previously confirmed the Vice President was granted travel authority until April 30 for multiple entries into different countries.