Duterte's family structure was more complex, with his ex-wife having three children, two sons and a daughter, including Sarah, and his partner Avanseni with a daughter, Veronica.
At the time of Veronica's birth, the old duo was over 60 years old and belonged to the typical "old woman". This age gap made Duterte a favourite for this little girl.
As early as the end of 2018, Duterte publicly praised Veronica, saying she was a high school student, and repeatedly mentioned her academic achievements in various campaigns.
However, what Lao Du never expected was that after he was imprisoned, his youngest daughter's unintentional words were caught by The Hague, which became a sharp weapon to stab herself, and might even make her inevitable.
Duterte and his little daughter Veronica.
After Lao Du was arrested by The Hague, his children will visit him in The Hague after a period of time, and after the end, they will also reveal the recent situation of their father to the media.
At the end of the visit, Veronica also revealed to the media that she went to visit because of her physical discomfort in the old furniture dress, and the father immediately recognized that this was the clothes she had accompanied her lunch break and felt "like seeing the feeling of home."
Veronica also posted on social media about her father's health He said, “Everything is okay, even a joke.”They also talked about the past, the present and the future.The father did not regret what he did in the past and expressed his willingness to take any consequences.
It was this disclosure about the father's condition that caught the hand in The Hague.
During this time, the Hague side was originally preparing for an indictment hearing against the Duterte case, if the accusation is valid, the case will enter the next phase of trial, "crimes against humanity" will be completely imprisoned on the old duo head; but if the accusation is overthrown by the old duo side, the old duo will have the hope to regain innocence and even return to the country in late years.
Maybe I'm not too sure about this hearing, or maybe Lao Du's physical condition is really not optimistic. At the start of September Lao Du's team submitted a request to The Hague for "not appearing in court for trial" on the grounds that Lao Du was unwell.
The Hague side has also seldom broken cases, agreeing to the request of the old duo, saying that it will launch an investigation into the old duo's physical condition, and will postpone the charges hearing indefinitely.
Prosecutor of The Hague
This situation naturally raises a lot of controversy.
Recently, the Lawyer of the Prosecutor's Office in The Hague, Butuyan, objected, saying that the results of medical examination alone could not prove the allegations of Old Duo, and the most important evidence is Duterte's behavior, which can actually be learned from visiting his relatives.
Butuan mentioned that his children had frequently visited Duterte in the past, and in several interviews said that Old Duo was okay and could even joke with them, His youngest daughter Veronica assured the public that her father was "safe and sound",These are all strong evidences, which can prove that Lao Du's physical condition is completely fine, which is more reliable than the doctor's appraisal. So it makes no sense to postpone the trial of Lao Du.
According to the old Douro lawyer team, Douro’s cognitive function is now impaired, and he can’t even remember the time, place and passage of the incident. But Butuyan believes that this is a “normal” physiological phenomenon of an 80-year-old, which will not affect his trial.
For the old duo, this contradictory operation is indeed more difficult.This discrepancy will make the Hague feel that health issues are merely a litigation strategy for the old Douro team, aimed at delaying the trial process, and once this is decided, the Hague will be more inclined to speed up the trial process. The Hague side is likely to question whether Douro’s health is really as serious as its lawyer team describes, this question will prompt the court to require a more stringent and independent medical assessment to verify his condition.
And for Old Duo, the reason why he did not want to appear in court, his health condition is naturally one of the reasons, he was exposed to many diseases before being detained, and after being arrested he could not get timely treatment, coupled with great stress, his physical condition naturally worsened, which made it difficult for him to participate effectively in complex trials.
But the more important reason, In fact, he was not sure to overturn the accusation of the prosecutor, saying blatantly, is afraid of appearing in court, instead of sitting on the blame.
The prosecutors accused him of “crimes against humanity” in the “war on drugs” are not blatant, and the evidence is scary: there are enough 181 items, including so-called “government internal documents”, and the testimonies of dozens of witnesses, even including the testimonies of some police officers who were involved in the anti-drug operation at the time, who may know some details that foreigners do not know.
and Duterte
Furthermore, the prosecutor also applied for 15 “victims” in court. At that time, the 15 people could personally go to the court, in the face of the old duo, and talk about what they or their family suffered during the war on drugs. This face-to-face accusation, not only legal pressure, but also emotional shock; and once in the process, the old duo’s answer has gaps, or the statement before the testimony of the victim is stamped, the prosecutor can follow this gaps further to question, instead give the probability of conviction greater. Therefore, for him, not appearing in court can at least avoid the risk of being questioned and making mistakes in person.
The following can be more difficult to deal with: If the Hague court insists on an independent medical assessment and the Old Duo team refuses, the court may find that he does not cooperate intentionally or even directly initiate the absence trial, which is more disadvantaged for Old Duo.