Sen. Robin Padilla and Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go shed tears of joy after former President Rodrigo Duterte made his first in-person appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber III on Wednesday.
It has been a year and a half since Duterte attended his proceedings in the Hague, which he previously only attended through online video conferencing.
‘I was happy to see Father Digong again, at least in photos and on television, after more than a year since he was taken to The Hague. But I was sad and my chest was tight,’ Go said in a statement.
‘I was unable to control my tears because I consider him more than a real father,’ the senator said. ‘It’s still sad to see our beloved leader far away from us, our father who loved us with all his heart,’ the lawmaker went on to say.
Go highlighted how noticeable the 81-year-old chief executive’s physical weakness showed, believing that it was due to ‘intense sadness from being away from our beloved country.’
The senator said given the former president’s old age, Duterte would have ‘difficulty to stand trial.’
Go was previously tagged as co-perpetrator to Duterte’s cases of crimes against humanity. He served as Duterte’s executive assistant as the latter was waging a war against illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, Padilla also expressed his reaction upon seeing the former president’s appearance before the international court.
‘I was shocked and unexpectedly shed tears of joy when I saw him. But I was also filled with sadness because I knew that Father Digong is a strong man,’ Padilla said in a text message to the media.
‘He embodied courage and compassion, but his 81-year-old body could no longer handle the prison,’ he added.
Padilla is among the lawmakers who opposed Duterte’s arrest.
He has repeatedly asserted that a local court should have tried the former president, instead of a foreign tribunal.
Likewise, Sen. JV Ejercito admitted that he felt sad after seeing Duterte’s seemingly frail appearance.
‘I felt a little sad when I saw him for the first time in a long while. Of course, he looked like skin and bones, right? Very thin. Very frail. With long hair too…’ Ejercito told the media.
‘I have to admit I felt a little sad when I saw him in his current situation,’ he confessed.
Ejercito was among the supporters of Duterte’s administration, specifically in its infrastructure program ‘Build! Build! Build!’
Duterte previously characterized the senator as a ‘friend and partner’ of his administration during the 2022 polls.
Duterte appeared in person before Trial Chamber III for the third status conference of his case, ahead of his trial on November 30.
The former president faces two counts of murder as crimes against humanity, and one count of murder and attempted murder as a crime against humanity, in relation to his administration’s war on illegal drugs