Sara to join Filipinos in Japan rallies

Vice President Sara Duterte was scheduled to fly to Japan last night to join the Filipino communities in Tokyo and Nagoya in rallies to protest the corruption in the Philippines.

“I am going to Japan because there are rallies organized by the Filipino community in Tokyo and Nagoya. They have long planned this,” Duterte said.

The rallies would also call for the release of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

Duterte said she could not postpone the events because the Filipinos who organized them had already arranged their day off, and many of them had traveled far for the activities.

“So this cannot be deferred. In any event, this is also for the nation because it is both a call against corruption and a call to the ICC to release former president Rodrigo Duterte,” the Vice President said.

Duterte said she has not scheduled another visit to her father in The Hague.

“I don’t have a schedule yet for The Hague. I have made sure that there is someone visiting President Duterte there. So, on that note, I am comforted by the fact that someone visits him every day, as allowed by the detention unit,” she said.

“But I am thinking of visiting because I’ve noticed that his mood has been changing. I asked Kitty what was happening and why there were no calls. She said President Duterte doesn’t want his frustration over being unable to do anything about the situation to be felt by others,” the Vice President added.

The former president is detained on charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the drug war killings during his administration.