FIRST District Congressman Paolo “Pulong” Duterte made a scathing remark against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, saying he should have just killed former President Rodrigo Duterte (FPRRD) so his paranoia would stop.
In a statement released on September 24, 2025, and posted on his Facebook page, the younger Duterte hinted at challenging the president’s intelligence, saying, “yan lang ba kinaya ng utak mo? (Is that all your brain could come up with?)”.
He also warned that the people would never remain silent if Marcos continues to let FPRRD be detained.
“You will go down as the worst, most corrupt, and most hated president of this country, and we, the people, will make sure that you will answer for that,” Duterte said.
Duterte also went as far as to insult the President, calling him “bangag nga pisot” (an uncircumcised drug addict).
Uncircumcised is a metaphor for a coward.
Fishy consular visit
The congressman’s statement comes after his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, condemned a supposed consular visit to their father at the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention unit, calling it a deceptive move ordered by President Marcos that endangered their father’s safety.
“If such sham ‘welfare checks’ are allowed to continue, then the ICC and the Philippine Government must be prepared to answer, fully and directly, for any harm that comes to Former President Duterte — including, should the worst happen, his death in custody as a direct result of these intrusions, the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check,’” she said in a statement on the same day.
The vice president said she received information from Malacañang that a report about FPRRD had been submitted to Marcos by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague. She claimed that the officials entered the detention unit under the pretense of conducting a “welfare check.”
“The said officials clearly abused the rule of the detention unit concerning consular visits,” she said.
Sara added that since March, at least two of FPRRD’s family members have been visiting him daily to ensure his well-being and humane treatment. She added that the ICC’s permission for agents of the “same government that abducted FPRRD to visit him” — without informing his family currently in The Hague — placed his life and safety in “imminent danger.”
Sara stressed that the so-called "welfare checks" were ordered by Marcos, which she and her family strongly object. She also emphasized that the former president does not need them as his family is taking care of him.
She further criticized Marcos, pointing out that many overseas Filipinos around the world are detained, distressed, abandoned, or neglected, yet have never received a single welfare check from the Philippine government.
“They need you, but you have failed them. We, Filipino, deserve better,” she said.
2023 stats of Filipinos detained abroad
In a news article released by the Philippine News Agency, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported in 2023 that about 1,254 overseas Filipinos were convicted and currently imprisoned abroad.
Of this number, 293 were imprisoned in Asia-Pacific; seven in Europe; and 954 in the Middle East.
In the same year, there were also about 83 Filipinos on death row worldwide, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official report.
Of these, 56 were in Malaysia, six were in the United Arab Emirates, five in Saudia Arabia, and 15 others in Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, the United States, Japan, and Brunei.
FPRRD’s case in The Hague
Former President Duterte is currently detained at the ICC facility in The Hague, Netherlands, over alleged crimes against humanity related to his administration’s drug war.
On September 21, 2025, Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed that FPRRD’s legal team filed a motion asking the court to assess whether he is mentally and physically fit to stand trial. The ICC then decided to postpone a scheduled hearing after Duterte’s lawyers claimed he was unfit to stand trial.
She also revealed that FPRRD’s legal team has found a country willing to accept him for interim release.
According to a 15-page court document released on September 22, 2025, the ICC prosecutor has formally charged FPRRD with three counts of murder and attempted murder in relation to crimes against humanity.
The first count is for the 19 deaths when he was mayor of Davao City from 2013 to 2016, second count is the death of 14 “high-value targets” in the Philippines during his administration as president of the country from 2016 to 2017, and third count is the attempted murder of 45 victims in his “barangay clearing operations” in the country from 2016 to 2018. RGP