Sara Duterte to join pro-Duterte rally in The Hague on July 29

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said Monday she will join a protest supporting her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, outside his detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 29, a day before proceedings in his crimes against humanity case.

Duterte said the rally will take place in front of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention center within the Scheveningen prison complex. She is currently in The Hague to visit the former president.

“This is a ‘Free Duterte Now’ rally, and we will talk about the injustice that was done to [former] President Duterte,” she said in a chance interview.

The vice president also said she informed her father about the rally during her visit to the detention center, telling him that while it might not help his case before the ICC, his supporters would at least be able to “vent their anger.”

“I informed [former] President Duterte about this and told him, ‘I do not think this will help your case since, from previous rallies, we have noticed that the ICC is taking what we say and using it as the basis for their decisions,’” she said in Filipino.

“And then he said, ‘Why are you rallying? What for?’ I said, ‘Just so we can vent our anger,’” she added.

Former President Duterte is facing three counts of crimes against humanity over his administration’s war on drugs, which killed at least 6,000 people, according to government records, and more than 30,000, including children as young as three years old, according to human rights groups.

His trial is set for Nov. 30.

Meanwhile, the vice president is facing an impeachment trial over allegations of confidential fund misuse, unexplained wealth, and grave threats.

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