VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte expressed her eagerness to return to the Philippines after confirming that the core defense team for her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is complete.
She did not disclose the exact date of her return to the country from The Hague, Netherlands, where her father is detained by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
“Everything is organized with the lawyers. And there is already a system for the family with regard to the visiting here in the detention unit,” she told reporters in an ambush interview with the media at The Hague, Netherlands, on Friday, April 4, 2025.
“Yes, yes. I’m excited to go home. I’ll just book the travel arrangements to go home,” she said.
Previously, the vice president said in a media interview that she would not leave The Hague until she had set up a legal team for her father and another relative had arrived to look after him.
In the Friday interview with the media, the vice president also said that her father has met with his new lawyer, and a schedule for meetings with lawyers and a liaison system have been finalized.
In response to a reporter’s question in The Hague, Netherlands, regarding the funding for her relatives’ trip there, Vice President Sara Duterte stated:
“We haven’t discussed that. Because everyone has their own work. Honeylet has businesses. I have my job, I have a salary. I also have what’s called ‘other income.’ My brother, Congressman Pulong, also has a job, and Mayor Baste also has a salary. So we don’t discuss money; what we call it is KKB—kanya-kanyang bayad (each pays their own way).”
The vice president also said that she and her siblings had discussed not accepting donations or asking for help.
“That’s also what we siblings discussed—that we will not accept donations or ask for help from anyone. If we need funds for our activities here, we would prefer to sell our belongings to have sufficient support.”
