VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday urged Filipinos in Melbourne to press the Australian government to call for the release of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, whom she said has been losing weight while in detention at the Netherlands.
The Vice President made the appeal during the “Free Duterte Now” rally at the Parliament Gardens in Melbourne, saying the former president cannot take care of himself.
“Sinasabi ko sa inyo hindi nyo pa siya nakita na ganito kapayat. Bakit ba pumayat? Dahil unang-una, hirap siya sa kanyang kalagayan. Hindi naman kasi siya marunong ng gawaing pambahay (You haven’t seen him this thin. Why is he losing weight? First, he is having a hard time because of his situation. He doesn’t know how to do housework),” she said.
The Vice President said the Filipinos there can make the call to the Australian government, which is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“You convince the government of Australia — because Australia is a member of the ICC — to look into the case of president Duterte and the injustice that he is receiving, that he has been getting from the ICC,” she said.
“You talk to the government of Australia. Come together, sit down, come up with a position paper,” she added.
She said there seems to be “some sort of discrimination” in her father’s arrest and detention for his alleged crimes against humanity, claiming that the ICC is only running after leaders of African countries because it is powerless against those who lead Western nations.
“So we ask, bakit walang Western cases? Dahil hindi nila kaya (So we ask why there are no Western cases? Because they can’),” the younger Duterte said.
