MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday said she was able to visit her father, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently in the detention facility of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

According to Vice President Duterte, her father, who is staying in the hospital wing of the facility, is in good spirits and is well taken cared of.

The two met in the visitor’s area of the facility and the visit lasted for an hour from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Vice President Duterte also said they were able to discuss several things, including her father’s legal team, their family, and the country.

“As a request, he asked me to go home. He repeatedly said do not leave the country, do not leave the Philippines,” the vice president told the media early Saturday (Manila time).

She likewise said that she will immediately return to the Philippines as soon as she meets her father’s legal team, and another relative comes from the Philippines.

The rest of the Dutertes are already applying for their visas, Vice President Duterte also said.

DUTERTE’S MESSAGE

According to Vice President Duterte, her father advised the public to relax and wait for the "day of reckoning".

“Sabihin mo sa kanila relax lang, may hangganan ang lahat. There will be a day of reckoning for all,” the younger Duterte said.

She also thanked those who support their family.

“I’d like to thank all our countrymen for your prayers, for your profound support for the former president. We can feel your love, we can feel your anger, we can emphatize with everyone’s rage about what happened. Let us not forget the real issues in our country, and that is the poverty, that is corruption, that is the failure of the government to answer the demands of the people about accountability and transparency, and the failure of the government to address peace and security in our country,” Vice President Duterte added.

The Duterte patriarch made his first appearance at the ICC in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday, where he faces allegations of crimes against humanity over his deadly war on drugs.

The 79-year-old appeared before judges for a hearing, where he was set to be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant. 

He attended the proceedings via video link.  

According to Vice President Duterte, the decision to make her father appear remotely was made by the doctors who were taking care of him in the detention facility.

The Vice President also said she will be meeting with her father’s legal team and plan their next move within the next couple of days.

Vice President Sara Duterte has labeled her father's arrest as "oppression and persecution".

Duterte supporters also gathered outside the hulking glass building in the Hague shouting "bring him home."

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber set a date of September 23, 2025 for the next stage of the process, a hearing to confirm the charges.

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