Former, current Duterte 'wives' visiting him for his birthday

THE current partner and the ex-wife of former president Rodrigo Duterte are expected to arrive in The Hague in the Netherlands to celebrate his 80th birthday on March 28, his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, said Friday. Duterte also said a second lawyer with 19 years of experience in the International Criminal Court (ICC) is poised to become the second member of the legal team of her father, who is facing trial for crimes against humanity in connection with his bloody war on drugs. In a chance interview with reporters at The Hague on Friday afternoon (Central European time), Duterte said the second lawyer, whose only legal experience has been as a trial lawyer for the ICC, as "intelligent." She did not name the person, however. "He knows the ins and outs of the court. And he is also building his own personnel under him," Duterte said in Filipino. Duterte said they are aiming to have a team of at least five lawyers that would comprise the defense for the former president, including lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman. She also said that they will hire a Filipino lawyer who would argue the case in the context of Philippine laws, and that a shortlist of lawyers is now being interviewed by Kaufman himself. Meanwhile, Duterte said her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, her half-sister, Veronica Duterte, and her mother and Duterte's current partner, Honeylet Avancena, are also poised to arrive in The Hague in time for the elder Duterte's 80th birthday. While her elder brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, has yet to arrive at The Hague, Sara's younger brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, is not expected to follow them at The Hague as he is campaigning in Davao City. Duterte also said that her father has already been released from the hospital inside the Scheveningen Prison and has now been transferred to a regular room at the so-called "Hague Hilton," where accused ICC suspects are detained. "Earlier, the doctor told him that if possible, he should walk more, and then I told him that he should request to walk outside. The doctor said that he can request that to security," Duterte said. Duterte said her father has been "overwhelmed" with the messages of Filipinos both in the Philippines and across the globe, and said that he has already resigned his faith to God. "He told me that I will leave whatever will happen to my life to God, so be it," the vice president said. Also over the weekend, the Iglesia ni Cristo said the former president should be tried for his crimes in the Philippines, and not before a foreign tribunal. This is the first time the sect has issued a statement since the arrest of the former president. In a statement read by its spokesman, Edwil Zabala, over NET 25 on Friday evening, the Iglesia Ni Cristo said that when they held their "peace rally" on Jan. 30, they asked government leaders for "peace and unity" and to resolve first the problems of the country before doing any moves that could sow division. "What is saddening is that the call at the Iglesia was not heard by the authorities. That's why these issues are happening now," Zabala said.