DAVAO City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang has once again urged the release of former President Rodrigo Duterte (FPRRD) following reports that he collapsed while in detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In his privilege speech on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Dayanghirang criticized what he described as the disregard for Filipino values and traditions of caring for one’s elders.
“He collapsed, and even his own family was not informed,” Dayanghirang said, adding that it was alarming to see Duterte “abandoned as if he were nothing,” despite not being convicted of any crime.
Dayanghirang argued that Duterte is not a flight risk, has not threatened witnesses, and has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to Davao. He said the former president’s detention deprives Dabawenyos of his service as their former mayor and leader.
He also urged the public to continue praying for Duterte’s welfare, saying that only prayer might hasten his release on humanitarian grounds.
The councilor then moved for the passage of another resolution reiterating their call for Duterte’s immediate release and for it to be transmitted to the appropriate authorities. This marks the third such measure filed by the City Council this year.
Earlier resolutions were approved on March 25 and July 15, 2025, urging the Senate and the ICC to act on Duterte’s release. On June 12, Duterte’s defense team formally appealed for his interim release to an undisclosed country willing to host him.
Duterte has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands, since March 12, 2025, and made his first ICC appearance via video link two days later.
Vice President Sara Duterte revealed that her father was found unconscious in his room and later subjected to laboratory tests without the family’s knowledge. She condemned what she called the ICC’s “inhumane and unjust” treatment of her father, citing the lack of adequate medical care and the absence of a 24-hour caregiver despite his frail health. RGP
