MANILA: Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday (Sept 18) said she will be heading to Japan to attend rallies in Tokyo and Nagoya to call for her father’s release from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to Duterte, she will head to Japan on Thursday evening and may stay there until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
“I’m going to Japan because there are rallies organized there by the Filipino community in Tokyo and Nagoya. They’ve been planning this for a long time,” she said.
Duterte then explained that she can no longer postpone the rally as many Filipinos have already set their vacation leaves for the event.
“This can’t be postponed under any circumstances, because it’s also for the country — it’s both a call against corruption and a call to the ICC to release former President Rodrigo Duterte,” she added.
This trip to Japan is Duterte’s 15th foreign trip this year. In August to September alone, Duterte visited Kuwait, Netherlands, France, and Belgium.
The ICC currently has custody of the elder Duterte after he was arrested and sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s war against drugs.
His war against drugs led to at least 6,000 people dead, with human rights groups reporting at least 20,000. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
