Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday that her family expects former President Rodrigo Duterte to still be in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by Christmas.
Speaking to reporters, Duterte revealed that her family has already accepted the likelihood that her father will be spending the holidays detained in The Hague, Netherlands.
“Yes, we already expect that,” she said, responding to a question on whether they have prepared her father for that possibility.
Sara said she has not yet spoken to the former president about the matter but noted that he regularly communicates with his legal counsel.
“He talks to his lawyer every day, so I know he’s already aware that something like that might happen,” she said. “For now, I’m just preparing the schedule for family visits.”
It has been seven months since the ICC placed the former president in custody over alleged crimes against humanity linked to his administration’s controversial “war on drugs.”
The anti-drug campaign, known as Oplan Tokhang, resulted in at least 6,000 deaths according to government data. However, human rights groups estimate the number of fatalities could be as high as 30,000.
