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‘Look for somebody with plenty of credit cards': Jailed Philippine leader Duterte's message to his ‘girlfriends'
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech during the proclamation rally for his political party PDP-Laban's senatorial candidates ahead of the midterm elections, at Club Filipino in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 13, 2025. Reuters
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, who is already facing a war crimes trial in the Hague, has a new headache knocking at his door: More than a dozen women who allegedly had relationships with the self-proclaimed 80-year-old womaniser.
Rodrigo's son Paolo Duterte on Monday (June 30) visited his father at the ICC and passed on a message from the former president to all the women seeking to meet him in the Hague: 'To all his girlfriends – look for somebody else. Somebody with plenty of credit cards.'
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It was not clear how many women Rodrigo dated but Paolo claimed to know of at least 13 in the city of Davao alone. His brother and Davao's acting mayor Sebastian meanwhile said there were only four—Duterte's former wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, his current partner Cielito 'Honeylet' Avancena, Balaba and Egan.
'All of these fine ladies touched the life and heart of my father. No one is above or below the other, including my mother. It is what it is,' wrote Sebastian in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Duterte's daughter and Vice-President Sara Duterte said in June that her father was 'smart' because 'when he separated from my mother, he didn't marry again … And therefore, now, nobody can claim Rodrigo Duterte because they're just all equally girlfriends.'
The women have become a source of headache for the Duterte family. Several of them have travelled to the Hague over the past weeks to meet the former president but they were not allowed to enter the facility.
On June 20, Veronica 'Kitty' Duterte, the 20-year-old youngest daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, posted on Instagram, sharply criticising an unnamed individual for attempting to get close to her father.
Without disclosing the person's identity or gender, she condemned their 'audacity' for claiming to have performed duties for Duterte, accusing them of posing as his partner to gain access, visit him, and extract information for potentially harmful purposes.
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The post sparked widespread speculation among Duterte's supporters. Online discussions pointed to two individuals: Joyleen 'Girlie' Balaba, a 52-year-old councillor from Cagayan de Oro, and Jasmin 'Jasy' Egan, a former protocol officer at the presidential palace. Both reportedly travelled to The Hague recently.
Nuelle Duterte, a psychiatrist and the former president's niece, shared with This Week in Asia that 'Girlie Balaba was an open secret in Davao City, widely known as one of his girlfriends. I saw her once at a local hospital in Davao when I was a medical student, and she was identified as 'Digong's [Rodrigo's] girlfriend'.'
Rodrigo Duterte has remained evasive on the issue. When questioned by his son Paolo about Egan, he reportedly dismissed any connection, stating they had no 'relation.' Paolo recounted his father's lighthearted remark: 'They're not cousins, they're not siblings, so there's no relation.'
Notably, Duterte was transferred to the Netherlands on March 12 to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to his role in the deadly 'war on drugs' campaign.
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During his presidency, Duterte publicly urged law enforcement to pursue and eliminate individuals suspected of involvement in the illegal drug trade. The war crimes trial could see him sentenced up to 30 years in jail.
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