Sara Duterte departs for Amsterdam to follow father Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague
Vice President Sara Duterte is on her way to Amsterdam after saying that she would follow her father, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, to The Hague.
The Office of the Vice President confirmed that Duterte left Manila on March 12 aboard Emirates flight no. EK 337.
Speaking to reporters on the evening of March 11, Sara revealed her plans to go to The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is headquartered in the Netherlands.
"Kailangan ko kasi kausapin 'yung mga abogado doon kung saan man siya dalhin. Papunta kami, ako, at papunta 'yung mga abogado and soon kami mag-uusap kung ano 'yung gagawin," she said, as per News5.
Rodrigo left for The Hague on the chartered Gulfstream G550 plane with tail number RP-C5219 from Villamor Air Base at 11:03 p.m. on Tuesday. He arrived in Dubai for a layover the following day at 8:03 a.m. (Philippine time) and will continue to fly to Rotterdam, which is about 24 kilometers away from The Hague.
In a statement, Sara said that her father's arrest demonstrates the government's willingness to "abandon" its citizens and "betray" its sovereignty and national dignity.
She also argued that her father was "being denied his fundamental rights" and has been prevented from appearing before a court to defend his rights and "allow him to avail of reliefs provided by law."
"Kung Pilipino ka hindi ka kailanman susunod sa mga dayuhan sa loob ng sarili mong bayan. We are not Filipinos for nothing," she stated.
Former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Wednesday filed a writ of habeas corpus before the Supreme Court on behalf of Rodrigo's other daughter, Veronica "Kitty" Duterte. The petition seeks to bring back the ex-president to the Philippines.
The older Duterte was arrested on March 11 for alleged murder, torture, and rape—which are part of the 15 forms of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute—in connection with his administration's bloody war on drugs called Oplan Tokhang.
Based on the government's "Real Numbers" data, a total of 6,229 individuals were killed during anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2022.
Rights groups, however, estimated that the number of deaths from the bloody anti-narcotics campaign reached as high as 27,000.
