Digong not sacking his ICC defense team

Vice President Sara Duterte said her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, will not replace his legal team handling his crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte, who is in The Hague, Netherlands, to visit her detained father, said she relayed to him the concerns of supporters who are dissatisfied with how his legal team is handling the case.

“I asked him — I asked former President Rodrigo Duterte. I told him exactly what you are asking: Do you want to replace them? Are you not yet satisfied? He said no replacement. But he gave some instructions to the legal team,” she said in an interview in The Hague on Thursday, 28 January.

“I did not say what those instructions to the legal team were. I will also not say what those instructions were because they are not important,” the Vice President added.

The former president is detained in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity over alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration’s drug war. 

He was arrested on 11 March 2025 by local authorities based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, Duterte thanked her father’s supporters who continue to follow the case. “Of course, the most important thing there is prayer, because the power of prayers is very strong when many are praying,” the Vice President added.