MANILA, Philippines – Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Veronica (also known as Kitty), said her father was “disappointed” when he found out that their family won’t be able to visit him on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

“His face really went sad when I told him that we couldn’t visit on the actual days, which are Christmas and New Year. But I did tell him that maybe, we can visit on the night of 24th,” Veronica said in a mix of Filipino and English in an interview posted on Alvin & Tourism Facebook page on December 23.

Duterte’s ICC lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, however, had already said in early December that Duterte’s family might not be able to visit him on Christmas and New Year’s Day because these are official court holidays.

“On the actual Christmas day itself, Boxing Day, these are official court holidays, so no visits, unfortunately, are allowed at all. However, we are going to try and change that because we believe that the former president should be with his family on Christmas, and we will fight for that,” Kaufman said in a a GMA News report.

“What the court decides, obviously, is a different matter. We will do our best to make sure that, that happens, but unfortunately, I can’t be too optimistic, but we do our best,” he added.

According to Veronica, she was able to personally visit and talk to her father in his ICC detention facility on December 24. She shared this in another interview. This means that the family was not deprived at all of their visiting privileges.

ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti reiterated to Rappler that there are only days and hours when visitors are allowed — and Christmas is no exception.

“As far as I know, the detention facility is staffed just enough and runs like clockwork, that it cannot just make special arrangements. December 25 and 26 are holidays when staff can go on leave/not report to work. The detention facility most likely has a lean team that cannot accommodate security measures for visitors,” Conti explained.

Visits to detained persons are regulated by the ICC Registry. The registry sets the daily visiting hours for all visitors, and the “demands of the daily schedule of the detention [center], the facilities, and staff available,” are all taken into account.

But families of the detained, like the Dutertes, are actually given special attention by the ICC.

“Generally, visits by persons other than counsel or certain authorities specified in the Regulations must seek permission for visits from the Registry. In fact, the Regulations of the Registry specifically state attention must be given to visiting family to maintain close links with the detained person,” international lawyer Ross Tugade told Rappler.

Tugade was referring to Regulation 179(1) of ICC’s Regulations of the Registry.

The former president has been detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands since March due to his crimes against humanity case that stemmed from his war on drugs that killed nearly 30,000 people, according to tallies of human rights groups. The killings of the so-called Davao Death Squad are part of Duterte’s ICC case files.

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