Sara Duterte flies to the Netherlands to help father in ICC case
Credit to Author: Cristina Chi| Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:50:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte departed for the Netherlands Wednesday morning, March 12, following yesterday's International Criminal Court arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The vice president is expected to meet up with the legal team of the elder Duterte at The Hague, Netherlands, where the ICC is seated.
The Office of the Vice President confirmed the vice president's flight details in a statement sent to reporters.
"Vice President Sara Z. Duterte departed from Manila this morning, 12 March 2025, at approximately 7:40 AM (Philippine Standard Time), via Emirates flight no. EK 337 bound for Amsterdam," the OVP said.
"Further details regarding the Vice President's trip will be provided as necessary," it added.
Sara told reporters last night at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City that she intends to "follow" her father, whose plane bound for The Hague took off at around Tuesday 11 p.m.
The elder Duterte was served a warrant of arrest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon returning from a trip to Hong Kong. According to the ICC's warrant of arrest on Duterte, the court's pre-trial chamber found him "individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder" in the execution of his anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Duterte's so-called "war on drugs" has been the subject of investigation by the ICC since 2018. Official police figures report over 6,000 fatalities linked to the crackdown, yet human rights organizations believe that the true toll could reach as high as 30,000, including innocent civilians.
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The vice president, along with senators Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa, was named in documents submitted to the ICC pertaining to its ongoing investigation into Duterte's violent drug war, according to a 2023 VERA Files report.
Sara's name cropped up in the document as part of allegations that she knew and approved of extrajudicial killings during her term as Davao City mayor — a position she held from 2010 to 2013, and then from 2016 to 2022.
The vice president previously denied allegations of involvement in extrajudicial killings during her tenure as Davao City mayor, dismissing them as politically motivated accusations.
In February 2024, former police officer Arturo Lascañas claimed that Sara played a key role in the so-called “Oplan Tokhang” operations in Davao City, which were linked to thousands of alleged summary executions.
Lascañas had alleged that Sara conceptualized Oplan Tokhang in 2012 and directed then-Davao police chief, now-Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, to conduct secret abductions and killings of suspected drug offenders.