Vice President Sara Duterte visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, in jail all the way in The Hague, Netherlands. He was arrested earlier this year by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes that happened during his war on drugs when he was president.
During their visit, VP Sara said her dad made a joke. He told her that he and his close friend, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, seem to have the same bad fate—both are now in jail.
“Sabi niya pareho daw sila ng kapalaran ni Quiboloy,” Sara shared. “Sana pala hindi na lang kami naging magkaibigan para hindi kami napunta sa kulungan.”
(Translation: He said he and Quiboloy have the same destiny. He even joked that maybe if they weren’t friends, they wouldn’t have ended up in jail.)
Sara said they laughed about it. She told her dad that fate or palm lines have nothing to do with what happened to them — it’s all because of politics.
Why Are Duterte and Quiboloy in Jail?
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Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, in the Philippines because of an ICC warrant. He is now held at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague.
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Apollo Quiboloy, a religious leader and Duterte’s close ally, was arrested six months earlier on September 8, 2024. Police found him hiding in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao City after searching for weeks. Now, he’s detained at Pasig City Jail.
Quiboloy’s Serious Cases
Pastor Quiboloy is facing very serious crimes:
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Human trafficking (not allowed to post bail)
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Sexual abuse
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Labor exploitation
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Child abuse and exploitation (under RA 7610)
A Pasig court recently denied his request for bail, saying the evidence against him is strong. VP Sara said she hasn’t told her dad about this news yet because she hasn’t read the court documents.
VP Sara Slams House Spokesperson
While in The Hague, VP Sara also had something to say to Princess Abante, the spokesperson of the House of Representatives.
She told Abante to stop talking about her dad’s ICC case. Sara said that Abante is only supposed to speak for the House of Representatives, not about international legal cases.
“Huwag na siyang sumawsaw. It’s out of her league,” said VP Sara.
(Translation: She shouldn’t get involved. It’s not her place.)
VP Sara believes she has the right to defend her father as a daughter, as a Filipino, and as Vice President, especially since she feels that the Marcos administration helped the ICC in detaining him.
But she says Abante has no business speaking on this matter.
Abante, on the other hand, responded by saying Duterte’s arrest is not based on gossip, but on actual evidence provided to the ICC — a clear clap back at VP Sara’s claim that the arrest was just political drama.
