DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 March) – Vice President Sara Z. Duterte has not greeted her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, on his 81st birthday on Saturday, March 28.
Duterte told reporters after the Parada Dabawenyo on Saturday noon (5 a.m. in The Hague) that phone calls to the detention center of her father are not allowed during the weekend.
Duterte said her father has not called her for some time, but added her brother, 1st district Representative Paolo, visits him at the detention facility daily.
“I haven’t greeted him today, and it has been a long time since he last called me. But I am confident since Congressman Paolo Duterte is there to visit him every day,” she said in Filipino.
Thousands of supporters of the former president, however, joined the “Solidarity Walk for PRRD’s 81st Birthday,” wearing green shirts bearing the message “Bring Him Home” and similar statements that demanded his return to the country.
“Of course, for an 81-year old, isa lang ang birthday wish nating lahat, and that is he’d be given another year of good health,” she said.
Arrested on March 11, 2025 and flown to The Hague late evening to face charges of crimes against humanity in connection to his bloody war on drugs, Duterte has spent two birthdays in the detention center. (Razl EJ Teman / MindaNews)
