VICE President Sara Duterte and her three siblings visited former President Rodrigo Duterte in detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
For the first time since Duterte’s arrest in March, his children, the Vice President, Davao City Representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, and Kitty Duterte visited him all together on Wednesday, August 27, 2025 (Netherlands time).
Sara said this was one of the requests of the former President.
“As a father, ‘yun ‘yung message niya. Bilang ama, personal na buhay namin at sa politika. Personal na buhay, buhay ng pamilya at buhay namin sa politika. So yun yung mga general topics na napag-usapan kanina,” she said.
(As a father, that was his message. As a parent, it was about our personal life and politics. Our personal life, our family life, and our life in politics. Those were the general topics we talked about earlier.)
“Masaya siya. Masaya siya na nakakausap niya kami… At medyo maingay kanina kasi apat, tatlo sabay-sabay, apat sabay-sabay na nagsasalita. At some point, sinabi ni Baste na hindi na ako magsasalita kasi walang nakikinig sa akin. So medyo siguro na-miss niya yung ganon na discussions na labo-labo, sabay-sabay nagsasalita lahat. At masaya siya na nakabisita kaming apat,” she added.
(He was happy. He was glad that he got to talk to us… It was a bit noisy earlier because three or four of us were speaking at the same time. At one point, Baste even said, ‘I won’t talk anymore since no one’s listening to me.’ So maybe he missed those kinds of chaotic discussions where everyone was talking at once. And he was happy that the four of us were able to visit.)
Sara said that at present, the former President’s food intake is limited and under close monitoring due to a spike in his blood sugar.
“Okay naman siya. Kanina, chineck namin siya. Minasahe siya for one and a half hours ni Congressman Pulong Duterte. So, minasahe yung dalawang paa niya and then inano yung circulation because napansin niya na medyo gray, ashen gray yung kanyang isang paa,” she said.
(He’s doing okay. Earlier, we checked on him. Congressman Pulong Duterte gave him a massage for about an hour and a half. He massaged both of his legs to help with circulation because he noticed that one of his legs looked somewhat gray, ashen gray.)
“So, minasahe ng maayos para maayos din ‘yung circulation. Minasahe yung dalawang arms niya, ‘yung likod niya, ‘yung kanyang leeg minasahe din ni Congressman Pulong Duterte,” she added.
(So, he was given a proper massage to help improve circulation. Congressman Pulong Duterte also massaged his two arms, his back, and his neck.)
The Vice President said there was no discussion about future political plans during their meeting, but she said the Duterte patriarch was “extremely proud” following the “dismissal” of the articles of impeachment filed against her before the Senate. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)