Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte holds a 'free Duterte' rally in Melbourne
Hundreds of Filipinos rallied in support of Philippines Vice-President Sara Duterte in Melbourne on Sunday, calling for prosecutors to drop charges of crimes against humanity against her father, Rodrigo.
Mr Duterte remains in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of murder as a crime against humanity for presiding over a bloody "war on drugs" during which rights groups estimate 30,000 people were slain.
"You convince the government of Australia — because Australia is a member of the ICC — to look into the case of president Duterte and the injustice that he is receiving, that he has been getting from the ICC," Filipino outlet ABS-CBN News quoted Ms Duterte as saying during her almost 2-hour speech.
Mr Duterte was arrested in March at Manila airport and sent via private jet to The Hague, Netherlands, which Ms Duterte said on Sunday was "an affront" to the sovereignty of the Philippines.
"I have problems with violations of our fundamental law, our constitution," she told reporters.
The vice-president said she had reached out to Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong for a meeting but Senator Wong had been unavailable.
Pro-Duterte rallies calling to "bring him home" had previously been attended by Ms Duterte in The Hague and Malaysia, said Cleo Anne Calimbahin, a research fellow at the Australian National University's Philippines Institute.
"There is a conscious effort to win public support both in the Philippines and abroad," she said.
"The trips complement the Duterte family's online campaign to free former president Duterte."
Ms Duterte faces her own impeachment trial in the Philippines, which could lead to her removal from office, over allegations she misused millions of dollars in public funds and had plotted President Ferdinand Marcos's assassination.
Ms Duterte claimed she had "no ill feelings" toward Mr Marcos but that she had "problems with his performance as president".
Filipinos in Australia last month voted in the country's midterm elections, which decided the new make-up of a Senate that will preside over Ms Duterte's impeachment proceedings.
Five out of the 12 senators elected for the next Filipino Congress had been endorsed by Ms Duterte, which analysts have said could help her chances of acquittal.
A survey of 1,200 people released this month by Filipino pollster OCTA Research found that 78 per cent supported Ms Duterte facing an impeachment trial "to clear her name by responding to the charges against her".
Only 13 per cent of respondents said she should not be tried.
Shortly after his arrest in March, Mr Duterte marked his 80th birthday behind bars in The Hague.
Asked on Sunday about Mr Duterte's mental and physical condition in prison, Ms Duterte said he had lost a lot of weight.
"I don't think he's ever been this thin, since maybe before his marriage … he's stick thin because of the lack of appetite and because of the weather, it's very cold," she said.
"[But] I'm happy that he gets rice every day."
In a submission to the ICC, Mr Duterte's lawyers recently argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him because the Philippines was not party to the Rome Statute — the court's founding treaty.
It withdrew from the ICC when Mr Duterte was still president over what he said were the court's "outrageous attacks" against him.
Despite the Philippines no longer being a member of the court, Mr Marcos said that the country was fulfilling its commitment to the international police agency Interpol.
The arrest was welcomed by human rights groups worldwide.
"This momentous event sends a message to human rights abusers everywhere that one day they could be held to account," Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director Bryony Lau said at the time.
Despite his detention, Mr Duterte last month won a mayoral election in his home town of Davao — where the Dutertes' political support base is located.
"The Duterte family brand remains strong for overseas Filipinos, not just in Australia," Professor Calimbahin said.
There were heated verbal clashes with anti-Duterte protesters who staged a counter rally on the steps of Victoria's state parliament.
Around 360,000 Filipino-born people live in Australia, according to the Department of Home Affairs.
"I do not like travelling at all, except for holidays. And clearly I am not on holiday for this trip," Ms Duterte said.
"I am here [for] this cause, for the Filipino community, on ways forward for our country — and of course, how we can push the administration to do more for our country.
"The Philippine government should not discount the contributions of Filipino communities worldwide."
The International Labor Organization estimates there are 10 million Filipinos living abroad.
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