Senator Imee Marcos believes there’s still a chance that former President Rodrigo Duterte, now detained at The Hague, will be brought back to the Philippines.

In her television interview on Friday, Marcos urged Senator Bong Go, Duterte’s closest ally, not to “lose hope” after the latter expressed that the Senate inquiry on the former President’s arrest might already be too late.

Marcos advised Go not to give up easily.

“Huwag tayong su-surrender (Let’s not surrender),” she added.

“Alam ninyo napagdaanan namin ito. Deka-dekada naming pinaglalaban. Kaya huwag tayong susuko agad baka maiuwi pa natin kung mapatunayan natin na mali-mali ang nangyari at kayang-kaya ng mga korteng Pilipino hatulan si Presidente Duterte, kaya niyang harapin dito sa atin ang paglilitis,” Marcos said, referring to her father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who went into exile in Hawaii following the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.

(You know, we've been through this. We've been fighting for decades. So let’s not give up right away; maybe we can still win if we prove that what happened was wrong, and that Philippine courts are capable of judging President Duterte. He can face the trial here with us.)

During the hearing, Go voiced his disappointment over how Duterte was being surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) rather than being tried by Filipino judicial authorities.

“Hindi ko lubusang matanggap na siya ay nililitis sa ibang bansa gayong siya ay isang Pilipino? Samantalang mayroon naman tayong maayos na judicial system sa ating bansa na nirerespeto,” he argued.

(I just can’t accept that he is being tried in another country when he is a Filipino, especially when we have a well-functioning judicial system in our own country)

Go stressed that the Philippines is capable of holding its own citizens accountable under its own laws, without the need for interference from international bodies.

“Kasarinlan ‘yan bilang isang bansa. May sarili tayong batas, may sarili tayong proseso, may sarili tayong korte, at may kakayahan tayong panagutin ang sinumang nagkasala sa ating bayan,” he said.

(It’s our sovereignty as a nation. We have our own laws, our own processes, our own courts, and we have the ability to hold anyone who commits a crime in our country accountable)