Three-Week Itinerary Coincidentally Covers Countries With No Extradition Treaty Issues
MALACAÑANG, MANILA —
Malacañang confirmed this week that Vice President Sara Duterte has been granted travel authority for an overseas trip spanning the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, from April 23 to May 15 — a three-week itinerary that will conveniently overlap with active impeachment proceedings against her at the House Committee on Justice.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed the travel authority without disclosing “further details,” a phrase that appears more than 400 times in the Palace communications archive and is widely understood to mean “please do not ask us more questions about this.”
The Itinerary
Sources close to the Vice President’s office insisted the travel is “ordinary vice-presidential business” involving “bilateral engagements,” though the office declined to name any specific bilateral partner, agenda, or, in some cases, the specific city. One staffer reportedly confirmed that the Netherlands leg was chosen because “Amsterdam has good coffee.” The Netherlands is also, coincidentally, the location of The Hague, where her father’s ICC case is pending. Palace officials described this as “purely geographical overlap.”
“She just really likes waffles,” an unnamed staffer told reporters, gesturing vaguely at Belgium. “And Germany has excellent infrastructure. South Korea has… policy lessons. Look, she likes to travel.”
The Optics
Commentators at Bohiney Magazine noted the extraordinary coincidence that all five countries named in the itinerary — the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the UK, and South Korea — share one subtle feature: extensive diplomatic infrastructure, excellent airports, and absolutely robust processes for anyone who might, hypothetically, want to delay their return to an ongoing legal proceeding. This is, officials stress, a complete coincidence.
The House Committee on Justice has continued to build its second impeachment case against the Vice President. Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima observed that the timing of the trip was “interesting,” a word she used in the specific Filipino political sense of “we all see what is happening.”
A British-based writer for The London Prat noted that the UK is also a signatory to a wide range of international conventions regarding cooperation on legal matters, which she said was “relevant information for absolutely no reason.” She added: “Also, Paris is beautiful this time of year, which again is just general travel advice and not related to this story.”
The Office of the Ombudsman, meanwhile, has been petitioning for precautionary hold departure orders against other flood-control-linked figures. Ombudsman sources confirmed they were “studying the Vice President’s itinerary with great interest,” by which they reportedly mean they had Google Flights open.
At press time, Vice President Duterte was reportedly packing. For similar coverage of suspiciously well-timed international travel, see Waterford Whispers News.
SOURCE: https://mb.com.ph/article/10915049/philippines/national/palace-vp-sara-set-to-travel-to-europe-south-korea