Vice President Sara Duterte has warned her father that public demonstrations staged on his behalf may be working against him at The Hague, telling supporters this week that the International Criminal Court has drawn on statements made at such gatherings when issuing its decisions.
She raised the concern directly with former President Rodrigo Duterte during a visit to the ICC detention facility, where he has been held since March 2025 over crimes against humanity charges linked to his anti-drug campaign. “I informed President Duterte of this and I told him, I do not think this will help your case,” she told the crowd on Monday, July 27.
According to the vice president, remarks delivered at previous protests outside the court have surfaced in the tribunal’s rulings. “We’ve noticed that the ICC quotes what we say. And they use it as basis for their decisions,” she said.
Her account included her father’s reaction. She said he questioned the point of continuing the demonstrations, asking, “Bakit pa kayo mag-rally? What for?” Her reply, she recounted, was that the protests would broadcast Filipino outrage over his treatment to an international audience.
The elder Duterte ultimately deferred to his supporters, she said, though not without her repeated caution. “And then sabi niya, okay, bahala kayo kung ‘yan ang gusto ninyo. But I warned him that it will not help his case,” she said, noting he told them to proceed regardless.
A fresh “Free Duterte Now” rally is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, outside the court. The vice president has repeatedly appeared alongside demonstrators or addressed them informally during her visits to the Netherlands.
The court’s own record supports her concern about how its judges weigh public statements. When the Pre-Trial Chamber denied Duterte’s request for interim release in September 2025, the three-judge panel cited his characterization of his arrest as “a pure and simple kidnapping,” alongside his family’s calls for his return home and comments from the vice president herself. The judges concluded that keeping him in custody was warranted under the flight-risk provisions of the Rome Statute, and the Appeals Chamber affirmed that decision in November.
The former president has stayed out of public view since a March 2025 video-link appearance at his initial hearing before the pre-trial chamber. Judges have indicated they anticipate his presence at the next status conference on September 16, barring any medical obstacle.
