.MANILA, Philippines — Detained former president Rodrigo Duterte wants to go home as soon as possible, after nearly a month in the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte told reporters outside the detention facility on Friday.

“He repeatedly said, and I told him, ‘I understand where you are coming from and I totally agree with the urgency.’ He wants to go back to the Philippines. He said, ‘I am an old man, I can die anytime but I want to die in my country’,” the Vice President said after her hour-long phone conversation with her father.

“And I told him that we understand that you want it now and it is urgent. And he said ‘yes.’ And I told him that ‘the lawyers are working every day on your case and there is a lawyer everyday visiting you, explaining what they are doing’,” the Vice President added.

British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, who has been appointed as the former president’s lead defense counsel, had earlier said their team intends to file a petition before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the former president’s interim release.

If the court grants the petition for interim release but the older Duterte would be committed to other ICC-member countries instead of the Philippines, the Vice President said she is leaving it up to the defense team to look into the best legal strategy.

Meanwhile, the Vice President said that during her phone conversation with her father, the latter heard the cheering of his supporters gathered outside the detention facility.

“And so he said, ‘Please extend them my thank you. We all hope for the best. And everything I did, I did for my country. Whether that statement is acceptable or not, but everything I did, I did for my country. And I want that message out to the world’,” Sara said.

Asked by reporters if the former president’s statement was a form of “acknowledgement of responsibility” over his bloody war on drugs, the Vice President did not give a categorical answer.

“Unfortunately, I cannot speak beyond his words. So, I guess he expected that there will be different interpretations because he said ‘whether that statement is acceptable or not, that is my statement.’ Unfortunately, I cannot give you an interpretation and I do not want to go beyond these words,” the Vice President said.

The older Duterte is facing crimes against humanity charges for his bloody war on drugs.

No Filipino on defense team

Despite Sara’s previous claim that a Filipino lawyer would be a part of her father’s core defense team, Kaufman has now set the record straight.

“I’m working with Filipino lawyers, but in the core team in The Hague, there’s not a Filipino lawyer,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean that there’s no Filipino lawyer helping us. There are many Filipino lawyers who want to help and are helping out of the goodness of their hearts, many talented Filipino lawyers,” he added.

Kaufman was also quoted as saying that former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque will not be part of Duterte’s defense team.

Roque, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the House of Representatives, earlier said he has applied for asylum in the Netherlands.

Kaufman is set to release the full list of members of Duterte’s core defense team today or tomorrow, Sara said. — Janvic Mateo