If she had her way, Vice President Sara Duterte said she prefers her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to be placed under detention in their hometown of Davao City, should the International Criminal Court (ICC) grant his plea for interim release.

“Kung ako, Davao City talaga, Philippines. Kahit house arrest ’yan doon, kahit na gusto ng ICC na ilibing sa ilalim ng bunker ’yan na ’yung house arrest niya, walang problema sa amin. Gagawin namin ’yan,” the Vice President said in a press conference at the Senate on Monday, 29 September.

She added that granting her father’s interim release would encourage him to cooperate with the proceedings.

“In fact, I think mas makabuti pa nga kung ibigay na lang ’yang interim release na iyan because we can encourage him to cooperate sa mangyayari na trial kung meron man, or hearings kung meron man. And you know, mahalaga sa amin ’yung word of honor namin, no, sa pamilya,” Duterte stressed.

The Vice President assured the ICC that the former president would not evade trial.

“Kung sinabi namin na paniguraduhin namin na lahat ng hearing na sinabi ng ICC na um-attend siya, papaniguraduhin namin na nandun siya at nag-a-attend siya,” she said.

Duterte also disclosed that a third country has already expressed willingness to host her father, but she refused to identify which one.

Welfare check issue

The Vice President meanwhile accused the ICC of “abuse of power” for allowing agents of the Philippine government to secretly conduct a “welfare check” on the detained former president.

“Simula nung dumating si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, pumupunta sila doon for specific reasons, hindi dahil sa welfare check. So noong nag-file ang abogado ng indefinite adjournment noong proceedings, suddenly meron nang welfare check na ginawa ’yung officials ng embassy. At kung makikita mo doon sa report, ini-interview nila si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. And somehow nagbibigay sila ng… although nagsabi naman sila doon that we leave it to the medical experts sa assessment ng overall health niya, pero meron silang mga insinuations doon na para bang silang nag-a-assess ng kanyang kalusugan,” she said.

“Of course, yes, I see malice in that. Number one, they never did a welfare check. Number two, they did not coordinate with the defense team. They did not inform the defense team or the family members who were at that time in The Hague. And ’yun, ah, makikita mo sa report, nag-a-assess sila eh sa kalusugan,” Duterte added.