Imee to Bong Go: 'Huwag tayong susuko agad'

Presidential sister and Senate foreign relations committee chair Imee Marcos on Friday advised Senator Bong Go "not to lose hope" in the possibility of former president Rodrigo Duterte returning to the Philippines.

Interviewed on GMA Integrated News Unang Balita, Imee was asked about Go’s statement that her Senate hearing on Duterte’s arrest might be “too late” as the former president is already detained at The Hague.

“Ang dali naman niyang sumuko. Huwag tayong su-surrender...Siyempre, naintindihan ko si [Senator Bong Go]. Alam ninyo napagdaanan namin ito. Deka-dekada naming pinaglalaban,” Imee said.

(He gave up so easily. Let's not surrender...Of course, I understand Senator Bong Go. You know we've been through this. We had fought for decades.)

Imee’s father, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., sought exile in Hawaii in the United States after the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.

“Kaya huwag tayong susuko agad baka maiuwi pa natin kung mapatunayan natin na mali-mali ang nangyari at kayang-kaya ng mga korteng Pilipino hatulan si Presidente Duterte, kaya niyang harapin dito sa atin ang paglilitis,” she added.

(So do not give up right away, we might even get him back if we can prove that what happened was wrong and that the Philippine courts are capable to hear the case of President Duterte and he can face trial here.)

However, even Duterte's daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Thursday that the nation should now move forward as there is a possibility that her father will not be coming back to the Philippines following his arrest.

Duterte is currently in the International Criminal Court’s custody in The Hague as he is facing a case for crimes against humanity in connection with his drug war.

Duterte entered the Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison on March 13. —Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA Integrated News