VP Sara Duterte accuses ICC of 'kidnapping' father anew

Vice President Sara Duterte's claim that the International Criminal Court "kidnapped" her father now appears to be a staple of her speeches to their family's supporters during rallies, with the vice president recently repeating the line at an event with Filipinos in Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday, September 21.

- Cristina Chi/Philstar.com

Duterte's speech during the rally in Nagoya briefly touched on her father's petition for interim release before returning to a familiar refrain — that the ICC had abused its authority in taking custody of the former president.

The remark echoed Duterte's earlier statements at The Hague in July and in media interviews on the night of her father's arrest in March.

"Ang ginawa nila, kinidnap nila si dating Pangulong Duterte. Pang-aabuso," Duterte said.

(What they did was they kidnapped President Duterte. This is abuse).

The vice president again accused the ICC of forcibly removing her father from the Philippines rather than allowing him to face trial in a local court.

"When you have a warrant of arrest, you are brought before a judge. What they did to former President Rodrigo Duterte was, with a warrant of arrest, they forcibly took him from our country and brought him to The Hague," Duterte said in Filipino.

"He was not brought to a court here in the Philippines.. That is the right of the accused in our country, there in the Philippines," the vice president said.

Words as evidence. Duterte's earlier remarks accusing the ICC of illegally taking custody of her father have been used against her in court.