Pulong tells House he’ll go to 16 countries in 2 months
- Sixteen countries in 2 months — what junket is this? But that’s the travel clearance eldest Duterte son Rep. Paolo Duterte managed to apply and get approval for from the Office of the House Secretary General.
- The travel clearance granted the younger Duterte’s permission to travel from March 20 to May 10 supposedly to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
- Representative Duterte, unlike his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, has yet to be seen in The Hague to visit their father. The Vice President earlier said that family members had to identify several countries in their travel requests because they were unsure where the elder Duterte would be taken upon his arrest.
The Office of the House Secretary General on Tuesday confirmed that Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, eldest son of former President Rodrigo Duterte, sought clearance to travel to at least 16 countries in under two months.
A copy of the travel clearance signed by Speaker Martin Romualdez granted the younger Duterte’s permission to travel from March 20 to May 10 supposedly to go to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
In an interview with the Inquirer, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco explained that lawmakers normally did not have to explain their reasons for travel as long as they use their own money.
Velasco also said that this type of request to visit multiple countries was not unprecedented, noting it’s possible for members of the House of Representatives to manifest only their intention to travel to these countries but not necessarily go there.
Amendment
“Ours is merely a ministerial duty. As long as they do not use government funds, such requests are normally approved,” Velasco said. “This request is an amendment of [Paolo Duterte’s] earlier travel request [submitted March 12] where he asked for clearance to travel to the Netherlands and Japan.”
Representative Duterte first sought clearance to leave the country after his father on March 11 was handed by the government to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) which was implementing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands.
Former president Duterte was flown to The Hague that same day and has since been detained there to face a charge of crime against humanity for murder in relation the bloody drug war that he waged during his term as mayor of Davao City and president of the Philippines from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
Representative Duterte, unlike his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, has yet to be seen in The Hague to visit their father.
The Vice President earlier said that family members had to identify several countries in their travel requests because they were unsure where the elder Duterte would be taken upon his arrest.
Sara’s own travel authority, issued by the Office of the President, covered trips to Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands from March 11 to April 30.
During the former president’s arrest, there was speculation that the older Duterte could be presented to a court in Japan or South Korea — the closest ICC member-states to the Philippines — before he would be flown to The Hague.
The Inquirer sought Rep. Duterte’s office for comment but a member of his staff, Jojo Gamboa, said the Davao lawmaker could not be reached via Viber as he was forced to deactivate it following a hacking attempt.
Gamboa was referring to Rep. Duterte’s March 17 statement where he flagged a new Viber account activated using his personal number and warned against engaging with the account “as the same was clearly made in an attempt to misrepresent myself.”
With his travel documents approved, Rep. Duterte will be out of the country for almost the entire duration of the campaign period, which starts on March 28, for the May 12 elections. He is running for reelection for a third and final term as Davao City representative against Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Rep. Margarita Nograles, daughter of the late former Speaker Prospero Nograles.
Margarita’s brother, former Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, is facing former president Duterte in the mayoral race in Davao City. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
