VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte feared that her father might meet a similar fate to the murdered Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. if he came home in a rush from his room in the ICC detention center in The Hague.
“Yun ang gusto nyang umuwi sinabi ko din sa kanya, sabi ko, ‘yung kagustuhan mo na umuwi yan din Yung katapusan ng buhay mo. Magiging Ninoy Aquino Junior ka (When he said he wanted to go home, I told him, ‘Your desire to return will be your end. You will become Ninoy Aquino Jr),” she told the crowd during a meet-and-greet event with Filipinos at Malieveld Park in The Hague, Netherlands, on Sunday, March 23, 2025.
“At sinabi niya sa akin, sabi niya kung ganyan ang kapalaran ko then so be it basta lang mauwi ako sa Pilipinas (And he told me, he said if that’s my fate then so be it, as long as I can go home to the Philippines),” the vice president said.
“Kaya meron man akong worry para sa kanyang safety and security pero lagi niyang inuulit ulit talaga ibalik nyo ako sa Pilipinas (Even if I worry for his safety and security, but he repeatedly told us to bring him home),” she added.
Meanwhile, he revealed that former President Rodrigo Duterte frequently inquired about his return to the Philippines.
“Sa mga araw na nandoon ako, isa yan sa paulit- ulit niyang sinasabi kelan mo ako mapalabas dito dahil darating ang election mag mayor pa ako ng siyudad ng Davao (On days I was there, it was one of the things he repeatedly asked: ‘When can you get me out of here? The elections are coming, and I’m still running for mayor of Davao City),” Duterte told the crowd.
The people then chanted, “Bring him home! Bring him home!”
She urged the supporters to continue pressuring the Phillippine government and all governments across the globe, and even the International Criminal Court, “to acknowledge that what was done to President Rodrigo Duterte was wrong.”
The vice president said that the Philippine government can even continue hearing the cases against her father so long as he can return.
Filipinos once more alternately chanted, “Bring him home” and “Marcos resign,” before singing the “Happy Birthday” song to the former president, who will be turning 80 years old on March 28.
On Sunday, an estimated 5,000-6,000 Filipinos from across Europe gathered at Het Malieveld Park in The Hague to express their support for former president Duterte. They also sang “Bayan Ko,” the anthem and rallying cry for the opposition during the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
She ended her speech by urging their supporters to remember what they were fighting for in the country.
“Wag nyo kalimutan ang laban (Don’t forget the fight), what is our cause. Our cause is for our country. Ang laban na ito ay para sa bayan (This fight is for our country).”
