Rodrigo Duterte is expected to become the mayor of Davao again

Six weeks ago, a high truck accumulated flowers at the International Criminal Court detention center in The Hague. The court also received the delivery of birthday cards. Many and many of them.

They were all for the latest prisoner, Rodrigo Dutti, former President of the Philippines, who was eighty years old on March 28. He is accused of crimes against humanity, and he can spend the rest of his life in prison.

“The place was immersed in flowers, and I took some of the mail because they do not know what to do with it,” said Nicholas Kovman, lawyer of Mr. Doterti, in an interview. He said that he had left three bags of mail for Mr. Dutti that the court was unable to explain. In the Philippines, thousands of people wear the green color associated with the Party of Mr. Dutert Political The streets of Davao were flooded.

Mr. Doterti, who ordered a brutal campaign to combat Tens of thousands of people died During his presidency, he is still very popular in the Philippines. With the Filipino vote in the mid -term elections on Monday, he is expected to win another period as mayor of Davao, eighth, through a landslide. Currently, it is still eligible for the office.

Mr. Dat Sudden detention and delivery To The Hague in March, the Philippines were sharply divided. While some opinion polls show that the majority of the Filipinos are restoring the international investigation, many supporters of Mr. Dutti believe that he is a victim of political persecution by President Ferdinand Marcus Junior, who was previously an ally of the Deutatte clan.

Soon after Mr. Deutti Dramatic detentionMr. Marcos The approval classification decreased To 25 percent of 42 percent in the previous month, in a survey conducted by Pulse ASIA. But Sarah Duttiti – the current vice president and daughter of Mr. Dutert – rose to 59 percent of 52 percent.

Mrs. Doterti has long been considered a candidate for the presidency in the future. But these elections, in which half of the Senate are ready to seize them, can prove that they are pivotal. It has been isolated from the charges that include corruption, planning to assassinate Mr. Marcus, and participate in the killing of drug war and incitement to rebellion, and the country’s Senate members in the country will decide this summer if it will condemn it.

In Davao, where Mr. Dotrt is still loved after 22 years of mayor, his strains are thrived. It is expected that the son, Sebastian, who is likely to win the acting representative, is like a mayor if his father wins. At least seven individuals of his family can join the local government.

For the first time ever, three political families have gathered Nograleses, The Garcias and AL-AAGS- between the forces to challenge Dustertes, their former political ally, in Davao. But even Bernie Jazz-who is now running against Sebastian Duterti-he is not satisfied with the arrest of Rodrigo Duterti.

“I look at him as a father’s character,” said Mr. AL-AG, a former deputy of Davao’s mayor. “I still pray for him.”

“Before the arrest of Mr. Doterti, people in Davao can distinguish between the patriarch and those around him.

But she is now concerned that “the flow of sympathy with the father will infiltrate the rest of the family.”

Mr. Deutti’s camp used his case in The Hague as a campaign tool. At a gathering in Manila on Thursday, a video was played by his arrest. His supporters wore shirts and carried stickers saying: “Bring him home.” Mrs. Doterti told the attendees that the country “is paying the price of electing the wrong leader.”

She said: “The most painful thing is that they were able to kidnap the former president and threw him in a hurry in another country to be tried by foreigners.”

The other country, the Netherlands, is far from the life that Mr. Doterti is accustomed to.

The first number was food. (It is not clear what exactly is presented in the detention facility, but former President Liberia, Charles Taylor, once complained about that The food was very very “Eurocentric))

Fadi Al -Abdullah, a spokesman for the International Criminal Court, said that the court did not comment on matters related to the private life of the detainees.

Mr. Duttti said that he was “not used” for the meals shown, according to Mr. Kaufman, which prompted the lawyer to request “culturally appropriate food”. For Mr. Doterti, this is the rice – which is what it gets now, according to Ms. Doterti.

“This is what we requested and it is completely cooked,” Mrs. Doterti told the correspondents In The Hague earlier. “It is true according to the Filipino taste.”

Mr. Duterti’s family was allowed to provide him with a grocery, including zero coal, which is needed, according to Mrs. Doterti. She told the journalists that he complained about the reason for obtaining the coke zero once a day, and that he needed at least two boxes a day.

Life is a face. Mr. Dotrt brings with Mr. Kaufman every morning in the conference hall. In the afternoon, he meets some family members. It allowed time to exercise in the gym that was created with a playing field basketballand Tennis and the town of feather. There is another common space with the Vosappe table. He is one of Six people in reservationAccording to the court records.

According to Mrs. Doterti, her father, diabetes, has nurses watching him. He has access to library books and a computer that allows him to review defense files but is not connected to the Internet. In the morning or afternoon, he is allowed to make phone calls for pre -examined numbers. He has a TV so that he can watch the news.

Mr. Kaufman said: “Judging, some people indicate this as a five -star Hilton.” “But she is still imprisoned.”

The small detention facility is located in a Dutch prison in The Hague. The first head of state to be held, there was Laurent Gibago from Ivory Coast. He was acquitted with another Evoilean political leader, Charles Belle Judy, who was represented by Mr. Kaufman.

In a submission to the court Earlier this month, Mr. Kaufman has argued that there is no legal basis for the case against Mr. Doterti because the Philippines is no longer a party to the Rome Law – the treaty that constitutes the basis for the legal authority of the court – when the court allowed the launch of an investigation into the drug war in September 2021.

A session is scheduled to confirm the charges on September 23.

In Davao, dozens of volunteers camping in front of Mr. Deutti’s house since his arrest. Jeanis Machibus, 45, said she was sleeping out of the house, first on a carton on the floor and then on a bed a few meters away.

She said, “We will never get tired of waiting for him.”

Aie Balagtas see The reports contributed.