Vice President Sara Duterte cried foul over the alleged “sham welfare checks” conducted by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague for former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In a statement on Wednesday, September 24, the Vice President said she received disturbing information from Malacañang about a supposed report about the leader Duterte. The said document was submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands.
VP Duterte claimed that officials from the Embassy entered the detention unit under the pretense of conducting a “welfare check” and interviewed the former president.
“The said officials clearly abused the rule of the detention unit concerning consular visits,” the statement read.
According to the Vice President, since March, at least one or two relatives are allowed to visit the elder Duterte almost every day to guarantee his well-being and humane treatment inside the detention facility. With this, she said that the permission given by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow agents of the Philippine government, without seeking permission from family members who are in The Hague, places the former leader’s life and safety in “imminent danger.”
“If such sham “welfare checks” are allowed to continue, then the ICC and the Philippine Government must be prepared to answer, fully 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,” VP Duterte wrote. “These are nothing but orders of President Marcos disguised as consular functions, and we strongly object to such visits. FPRRD does not need you, our family will take care of him.”
She then directed attention towards several Overseas Filipinos globally who are detained, distressed, abandoned, or neglected, adding that these people have not benefited from a single welfare check from the Philippine government.
“They need you but you have failed them. We, Filipinos, deserve better,” the statement ended.
On Monday, a 15-page filing from July 4 was made public by the ICC, indicating that the elder Duterte was charged with three counts of murder for the crimes against humanity from his years as Davao City mayor through his presidency.
