It’s morning in The Hague and Senator Robin Padilla is wandering around looking for a place to eat – while carrying a life-size full-colour cardboard cut-out of Rodrigo Duterte.
Settling down at an outdoor cafe, the Filipino political partisan props the standee beside him. The cardboard image of the former president depicts him seated, wearing dark glasses and a T-shirt. Padilla, president of the Duterte-controlled PDP Laban party, snaps a photo for his social media account.
To some, this scene may appear surreal – but not to the other Filipinos nearby, who are arriving in town with their own standees in tow.
In one video, a middle-aged Filipino woman rides a speeding tram while clutching a Duterte standee. She glances back at the bemused passengers, smiles and says earnestly: “This is our president.”
Duterte, 80, is being held at the International Criminal Court’s detention centre in Scheveningen, The Hague’s seaside resort district. He is set to face trial this year for crimes against humanity related to his administration’s “war on drugs”.
Since his transfer from Manila to The Hague in March, his supporters in Europe – mostly overseas workers – have regularly gathered in the city, holding rallies that call for his release and extol his supposed virtues. Occasionally, they are joined by Duterte’s family members, including daughter Sara and son Sebastian, along with allies like Padilla who fly in from Manila.
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