Duterte family splurges on The Hague trips while belittling victims and human rights defenders
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
7 March 2026
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
Duterte family splurges on The Hague trips while belittling victims and human rights defenders
KARAPATAN called “a blatant display of privilege and wasteful spending” the repeated trips of the Duterte family to The Hague to visit Rodrigo Duterte who is detained at The Hague, as Duterte’s online troll machinery belittles and maligns victims of extrajudicial killings and human rights defenders who pooled meager resources to monitor the proceedings at the International Criminal Court.
According to news reports, Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and Veronica “Kitty” Duterte have flown to The Hague again, which KARAPATAN said is an unmistakable reminder of the vast resources and privilege enjoyed by a family linked to widespread and systematic human rights violations. Duterte’s children including Vice President Sara Duterte, former aides and cohorts have gone to The Hague numerous times since his March 2025 arrest.
“In stark contrast, victims and human rights defenders scrape together funds, rely on solidarity, and make personal sacrifices simply to ensure that their voices are heard before the international community,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay.
“The Duterte family, many of them in public office, freely spends enormous amounts to shield themselves from accountability and play the victim card before the world, as the victims of the bloody ‘war on drugs’ are uniting and sharing what little they have to continue the struggle for justice,” added Palabay.
KARAPATAN stressed that the attacks against victims and human rights defenders are desperate attempts to divert attention and weaken the pursuit of accountability. “They cannot stop the wheels of justice through intimidation, disinformation, or how they flaunt their money by posting videos,” said Palabay.
In a related development, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber issued on March 6 its decision on Duterte’s appeal against the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber I on the review of his detention, rejecting his appeal.
Palabay welcomed the decision of the Appeals Chamber, asserting that “Duterte’s machinations to be released from ICC detention have become as trite as his curses as well as arguments to justify the drug war.”
“The successive legal losses of Duterte at the ICC should be an indicator that no one is buying Duterte’s delaying tactics. He should remain in jail, and he should face trial,” she said.
KARAPATAN calls on the public to remain vigilant and to stand in solidarity with the victims. “Let us all remain vigilant as we await the confirmation of charges of Duterte after 60 days, and ensure that despite difficulties, accountability must be attained,” Palabay concluded.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.