Vice President Sara Duterte revealed on Tuesday that she recently spoke with her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

In an interview after the House appropriations panel deliberations on her office’s proposed P889-million budget for 2026, she said their telephone conversation centered on “politics and his love life,” among other things.

“He called me last Friday. He’s okay. We talked about politics, we talked about flood control, and we even talked about his love life,” she said, laughing lightly.

Asked her father’s take on the flood control scandal, the Vice President said she couldn’t share the details.

“What can I say? I’m not allowed to discuss what’s talked about inside (the prison). So I really can’t say what he thinks,” she said.

On whether her father seemed “sharp” during their chat, Duterte urged patience, leaving the assessment to ICC experts.

“Let’s just wait for the hearing on his competency, if there is one. I’m sure the experts will say what they see,” she said.

“I’m not an expert on what the capacity of a witness or an accused should be,” she added.

Her comment comes after Nicholas Kaufman, her father’s lead counsel, recently claimed that the former president was suffering from “cognitive impairment in multiple domains,” making him unfit for trial.

The ICC has deferred the hearing on the confirmation of charges against Duterte originally scheduled for 23 September, citing the defense’s claim regarding his fitness to stand trial.

The former president is facing charges of crimes against humanity over killings linked to the war on drugs during his administration.