VICE President Sara Duterte said it is Senator Imee Marcos who should bring former President Rodrigo Duterte back to the Philippines.
The vice president blurted out this statement during her speech on Independence Day in Malaysia, where Sen. Marcos was also present.
"Kaya dinadala ko siya [Imee] kasi sinasabi ko sa kanya, hindi ako ang magbabalik kay dating pangulong Duterte sa Pilipinas. Dahil ang kapatid mo ang nagpadala sa kanya sa Hague, ikaw ang magbabalik sa kanya sa Pilipinas," the vice president said, emphasizing that Sen. Marcos’ brother, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., had "surrendered" her father to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
(That's why I'm bringing her [Imee] because I'm telling her, 'I'm not the one who will bring former President Duterte back to the Philippines. Because your sibling sent him to The Hague, you're the one who will bring him back to the Philippines.)
Sara, in jest, likened the re-elected senator to a "hostage."
"Bibitawan ko lang siya kapag si dating pangulong Duterte ay nabalik na sa Davao City (I'll only let go of her when former President Duterte is back in Davao City)," she said.
Duterte has been detained at the ICC headquarters in the Netherlands as he is facing charges of alleged crimes against humanity for his bloody war on drugs, which human rights groups claimed 30,000 people were killed.
Sara has been in talks with various foreign officials due to her work as a vice president and former Education secretary. She said they expressed shock at Duterte's arrest.
"Sa mga nakausap ko, lahat sila nagsabi, 'It is unthinkable for a government to surrender its citizen to a foreign power.' 'Yan ang eksaktong sinabi nila sa akin ng isa sa mga nakausap ko," (Everyone I spoke with said, 'It is unthinkable for a government to surrender its citizen to a foreign power.' That's exactly what one of the people I talked to told me,)” she quoted.
"Pero sa Pilipinas napakadali na ibigay ninyo ang inyong former head of state kaya ako man ay kahit hindi anak — kahit sabihin na lang natin ay karaniwang mamamayan, nahihiya ako sa ginawa natin sa ating dating pangulo," she added.
(But in the Philippines, it's very easy for you to surrender your former head of state. That's why, even though I'm not a child [of his] — even if we just say I'm an ordinary citizen — I'm ashamed of what we did to our former president.)
Sen. Marcos, who is considered a close ally of the Dutertes, even though she is the president’s sister, had criticized the government's action.
President Marcos was also once a close ally of the vice president.
Marcos, who chaired the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman the filing of charges against several high-ranking government officials over the arrest and transfer of Duterte to the ICC.
Marcos bared the possible criminal and administrative liabilities of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior and Local Government (SILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla, former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Marbil, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Director and current PNP chief Major General Nicolas Torre III, and Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes Ambassador Markus Lacanilao.
Sara, on the other hand, is facing impeachment complaints after 215 members of the House of Representatives signed impeachment complaints against Duterte on charges that include corruption, plotting to assassinate President Marcos, involvement in extrajudicial killings, and incitement to insurrection and public disorder.
However, on June 10, as the Senate convened as the impeachment court for the trial of the vice president, the senator-judges approved the return of the complaints to the House of Representatives to clarify some provisions.
Vice President Duterte was in Malaysia for a "personal trip," her office said in a statement. RGL