Written by Candy Feliciano
One Man's Fight for a President He Loves
THE HAGUE – The Christmas lights are twinkling all over the city, but on this one street, the only glow comes from a phone screen, lighting up Aldo’s face as he checks the permit again.
It is cold. The kind of damp cold that seeps through your jacket. But Aldo is here, like he is most days, from 10 AM to 6 PM. He is not waiting for a bus. He is keeping watch.
This patch of pavement has another name, but to him and the Filipinos who find their way here, it is "Duterte Street." It is all they have. A few thousand miles away, families are gathering for Noche Buena. But former President Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte will not be at any table. He is in a detention cell in The Hague, and Aldo cannot bear the thought of him being alone.
"He was the first president I ever voted for," Aldo says, his breath making little clouds in the air. "You know that feeling when you actually believe in someone? That was him for me. He made me think, 'Pwede pala'. It is actually possible to make a change."
So, Aldo, a 34-year-old who usually works in a kitchen, now spends his days in the Dutch cold. He secured the permits, he handles the logistics, he manages supporters with strong opinions. It is a headache, he admits. But it is a headache he chose.
"Peaceful life?" he says with a small, tired smile. "I gave that up. But where is the fun in that? This is for PRRD. He fought for us, now it is our turn."
For Aldo, this is not just politics. He believes the president was taken illegally.
In Manila, Senator Imee Marcos led a Senate investigation that gave voice to that belief. Her findings were stark. She said the arrest used an "unverified and unapproved" notice from Interpol, not a formal warrant from a Philippine court. How, she asked, could the country arrest its own former president for a court it left back in 2019?
"Since when did the Philippines become a province of The Hague?" Senator Marcos asked, calling it a matter of national sovereignty.
The investigation also found evidence the government was preparing for the arrest a full day before the warrant arrived. For supporters, this was not due process. It was a coordinated takedown.
That legal fight is deeply personal for the Duterte family. The president's daughter, VP Sara Duterte, flew here with the worry of a child for her parent.
She spoke about "credible information" that her 80-year-old father was found unconscious on his cell floor. Her voice tightened when she said the family was not told. "These alarming developments raise grave concerns," she stated, her formal words barely holding back a daughter's fear.
His lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, was more direct. The spoke of multiple falls and a "deteriorating cognitive condition." He said the ICC is holding a "debilitated and cognitively impaired 80-year-old" in conditions that are inhumane.
The worry for Duterte's health has crossed political lines. The Philippine Senate passed a resolution asking the ICC for one simple thing: mercy as demonstrated by the passage of Senate Resolution No. 144 during the 20th Congress.
Let him be under house arrest, they urged. His health is failing. Have a doctor see him. Have a heart.
It is a request that shows the human cost of a legal battle.
Which brings us back to Aldo on his cold street. He will be here through the season, holding a hot coffee, surrounded by photos and letters when he cannot be with family.
His message for Tatay Digong is simple. "We are standing by your side. Our prayers are with you."
To the world, he just asks for fairness. "Let there be due process, but let it happen in our country. Our justice system works."
For Aldo, laws and sovereignty are simple. It is about loyalty. It is about not abandoning someone you believe in, especially when you believe he was taken unjustly.
So, this Christmas, while the city celebrates, a quiet man on Duterte Street stands watch, proving that from a cold pavement, the warmth of one person's belief is a powerful thing.
