VICE President Sara Duterte clarified that the defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte (FPRRD) did not reach out to the Australian government concerning his application for interim release.
“There is no application of President Duterte for interim release to Australia,” she said during a media interview on June 27, 2025, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod in Davao City.
Duterte added that her father’s defense team submitted applications to two countries, which were indicated in the document, and Australia was not included in it.
She said she does not know why there was an email from an individual from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Trade regarding the interim release of FPRRD, emphasizing that there was no application nor an intent to apply for an interim release to the Australian government.
She added that she does not know what the basis of the person who sent the email was, since there was no discussion of application for an interim release by the legal team of FPRRD and the Australian government.
Duterte said she does not know where the email was addressed, but she obtained a copy of it.
The vice president assumed the email was from Australia since its telephone number began with +61. Based on the country code, 61 is assigned to Australia, and the website was dfat.gov.ad.
“The Australian Government is aware that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has applied for interim release to a third unnamed country. Australia has not agreed to host Mr. Duterte if he is granted interim release nor are we considering this,” portions of the letter said as read by Duterte.
The vice president said that she only mentioned there was a list of countries that the defense team of FPRRD was considering, and that Australia was among the options. However, she clarified that the defense team never applied to any of the countries on the list.
She said it is wrong to assume that an application was made to the countries included in the list. She also revealed that when she visited Australia, she did not speak to any government official.
Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of FPRRD, has petitioned for interim release in potential host countries for the former president, citing his old age and the fact that he does not pose a flight risk.
FPRRD was taken to The Hague in the Netherlands for his alleged crimes against humanity during his war on drugs campaign while in office. RGP