Vice President Sara Duterte criticized the visit of officials from the Philippine Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, to her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention facility.
According to the Vice President, the embassy officials did not secure permission from any member of the Duterte family for the visit, which she described as an “abuse” of the rules governing consular visits.
“The officials entered the detention unit under the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check’ and interviewed FPRRD. The said officials clearly abused the rule of the detention unit concerning consular visits,” VP Duterte said in a statement released by the Office of the Vice President.
Former President Duterte’s defense counsel in his ICC case, Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, also asserted that the embassy officials failed to coordinate the visit with him.
“I am fully aware of this matter. Previous visits by consulate officials have been coordinated through the defence yet this visit was not,” Kaufman said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however, maintained that embassy officials visited the former president to conduct a welfare check, which they stressed is part of their “duty.”
The DFA added that this is no different from what they do for other Filipinos detained abroad.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), for its part, declined to comment, saying it could not issue statements concerning the private situation of a detained individual.