Paolo Duterte gets clearance to travel
(UPDATE) DAVAO City Rep. Paolo Duterte has been issued a travel clearance for 16 countries and Hong Kong from March 20 to May 10, 2025, House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco said Tuesday. Among the countries that Duterte will visit is The Netherlands, where his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is detained at the Scheveningen Prison where he is awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection with his bloody war on drugs. Other countries the congressman is cleared to travel to are People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore. Velasco told The Manila Times in a phone interview that there was "nothing wrong" in Duterte's itinerary since it was being held during the congressional recess and he will use his personal funds for his travels. He added that some lawmakers have been issued the same travel clearance for multiple countries. An earlier travel clearance was issued to Duterte on March 12, covering the dates of March 12 to April 15 on a "personal trip" to The Netherlands and Japan. Vice President Sara Duterte is currently at The Hague in the Netherlands building up the legal team for her father and is expected to stay until April. During an ambush interview with Filipino media and overseas Filipino workers at The Hague, the vice president said she will remain at The Hague until her father's lawyers have been vetted, approved, and cleared by the ICC. Duterte also clarified her remarks that once her father comes back to the Philippines, he could die like former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. "We cannot remove what happened to history. This only shows their capacity to do these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague," she said, referring to the Marcos administration. She also said she did not call for the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but asked overseas Filipinos to give concrete examples why they want Marcos to resign. "I told the people, if you yell "BBM Resign, you should explain why, so the people listening would understand why are we calling for his resignation," Duterte said. Duterte said their father's 80th birthday celebration will not be a rally, but a "birthday picnic." "And then, you can gather your own groups, and then you do table hopping. Let this be a competition for the best food," she said. Duterte said her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, is slated to arrive on the 28th or 29th, while his father's current partner, Honeylet Avanceña, will follow suit, alongside their daughter, Veronica, who will visit the former president on Friday. "We have talked about this, and we all agreed that that would be the case.... They will be the ones visiting as they have a more limited time than mine. We siblings do not have a problem, however, our mothers have a problem," Duterte said. Meanwhile, the Palace said it remains non-commital to any order from the ICC to freeze the former president's assets. In a press conference, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro said the government is not inclined to follow its order given that it has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. The ICC, in an explainer video on its website, said that it could order the freezing of assets of an accused undergoing trial following a conviction to be used as remuneration for victims. Duterte last March 11 was arrested for allegedly committing crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody campaign against illegal drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and later on as president. Castro previously said that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) would be the government agency who would decide whether or not Duterte's assets would be seized. The AMLC has said that no request from the ICC has been forwarded yet. In the same briefing Tuesday, Castro said the Palace will leave it up to a local court to decide if Duterte's benefits as former leader would be forfeited should he be found guilty.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
(UPDATE) DAVAO City Rep. Paolo Duterte has been issued a travel clearance for 16 countries and Hong Kong from March 20 to May 10, 2025, House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco said Tuesday.
Among the countries that Duterte will visit is The Netherlands, where his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is detained at the Scheveningen Prison where he is awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection with his bloody war on drugs.
Other countries the congressman is cleared to travel to are People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
Velasco told The Manila Times in a phone interview that there was "nothing wrong" in Duterte's itinerary since it was being held during the congressional recess and he will use his personal funds for his travels.
He added that some lawmakers have been issued the same travel clearance for multiple countries.
An earlier travel clearance was issued to Duterte on March 12, covering the dates of March 12 to April 15 on a "personal trip" to The Netherlands and Japan.
Vice President Sara Duterte is currently at The Hague in the Netherlands building up the legal team for her father and is expected to stay until April.
During an ambush interview with Filipino media and overseas Filipino workers at The Hague, the vice president said she will remain at The Hague until her father's lawyers have been vetted, approved, and cleared by the ICC.
Duterte also clarified her remarks that once her father comes back to the Philippines, he could die like former senator Benigno Aquino Jr.
"We cannot remove what happened to history. This only shows their capacity to do these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague," she said, referring to the Marcos administration.
She also said she did not call for the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but asked overseas Filipinos to give concrete examples why they want Marcos to resign.
"I told the people, if you yell "BBM Resign, you should explain why, so the people listening would understand why are we calling for his resignation," Duterte said.
Duterte said their father's 80th birthday celebration will not be a rally, but a "birthday picnic."
"And then, you can gather your own groups, and then you do table hopping. Let this be a competition for the best food," she said.
Duterte said her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, is slated to arrive on the 28th or 29th, while his father's current partner, Honeylet Avanceña, will follow suit, alongside their daughter, Veronica, who will visit the former president on Friday.
"We have talked about this, and we all agreed that that would be the case.... They will be the ones visiting as they have a more limited time than mine. We siblings do not have a problem, however, our mothers have a problem," Duterte said.
Meanwhile, the Palace said it remains non-commital to any order from the ICC to freeze the former president's assets.
In a press conference, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro said the government is not inclined to follow its order given that it has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
The ICC, in an explainer video on its website, said that it could order the freezing of assets of an accused undergoing trial following a conviction to be used as remuneration for victims.
Duterte last March 11 was arrested for allegedly committing crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody campaign against illegal drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and later on as president.
Castro previously said that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) would be the government agency who would decide whether or not Duterte's assets would be seized.
The AMLC has said that no request from the ICC has been forwarded yet.
In the same briefing Tuesday, Castro said the Palace will leave it up to a local court to decide if Duterte's benefits as former leader would be forfeited should he be found guilty.
