Sara trip to Australia spawns concern from Filipino rights defenders there

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June 21, 2025 | 8:17am

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is currently in Melbourne, Australia, for a "personal trip" and will join Filipinos there this weekend for a rally for former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

But for a group of Filipino rights defenders in Australia, the vice president's arrival in the country — including her planned appearance at the rally in Melbourne on Sunday — is "distressing for many" in their community and a "direct threat" to social harmony in Australia.

The OVP told reporters on Friday, June 20, that Duterte has been in Australia since Wednesday, saying she is "currently on a personal trip to Australia and will be attending the 'Free Duterte Now' rally scheduled for June 22, 2025, in Melbourne."

Prior to Duterte's arrival, at least 16 Filipinos in Australia belonging to various rights organizations had signed a joint letter urging Australia's minister for home affairs, Tony Burke, to prevent Duterte and Sen. Imee Marcos from entering Australia. 

Burke did not respond to the letter, however, as confirmed to Philstar.com by Melba Marginson, lead convenor of the Australians for Philippine Human Rights Network (APHRN).

"Sara’s presence is an insult to Australians in general. She is currently polarising Filipino-Australian politics. Australia has had a history of cancelling visas of human rights offenders visiting to speak at public events in this country. That is why we at APHRN have tried to stop this visit," Marginson told Philstar.com.

"Unfortunately, we only found out about this visit a week before the Sunday rally, hence there was not enough time to get the request to the relevant Minister actioned promptly," she added.

The rally that the vice president will join will be at the Parliament Gardens, which is directly adjacent to the Parliament of Victoria, one of the eight parliaments of the Australian states and territories. 

The joint letter said Duterte's planned appearance at this event will "pose a genuine risk to Australia’s social cohesion, public order, and democratic values."

"This visit [by Duterte and Marcos] is a politically motivated campaign tour by individuals who have long been associated with authoritarianism, human rights abuses, disinformation, and systemic impunity," the joint letter to Burke read.

"Their arrival would deeply upset and alarm a large section of the Filipino-Australian community, particularly survivors of the Marcos dictatorship and the Duterte drug war, many of whom fled to Australia in search of peace, safety, and justice," it added.

'Political roadshows'

Days before Duterte went on a personal trip to Australia, she was also on a trip with her family in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During this time, she met with overseas Filipino workers on Independence Day, June 12. 

The joint letter by Filipinos based in Australia tags Duterte's international engagements as "political roadshows designed to erode democratic institutions." 

They also said in the joint letter that the vice president's "ongoing campaign to discredit" the International Criminal Court (ICC) and mobilize diaspora support for her father "through falsehoods"  constitutes a brazen campaign against international justice that should concern countries like Australia. 

"If Sara Duterte plans to use her supporters in Australia for personal reasons, i.e. to gather support for her father’s release, then she should be called out by President Marcos. Why is she allowed to travel in different countries to gather support for her father?" Marginson said in the interview. "That is not a service for the Filipino people. That is using taxpayers' money for personal reasons."

The public demonstrations set to be staged this Sunday, June 22 by pro-Duterte groups in Melbourne follow other similar rallies held by Filipinos in other countries that call for Rodrigo Duterte's release from the ICC.

Duterte quipped in her speech in Malaysia that Imee Marcos, who was accompanying her in Kuala Lumpur even as a senator-judge in impeachment proceedings against Duterte, was her "hostage" until her father, Rodrigo Duterte, is freed from detention and returned to the Philippines.

Rodrigo Duterte has been detained at the Hague-based court since March for the crimes against humanity of murder.  

The vice president, meanwhile, is facing impeachment proceedings, though the trial in the Senate is currently in limbo.

Marginson said she and other Filipinos in Australia are "fully aware of the impending impeachment trial that [Duterte] needs to face."

"If she plans to use Australia for asylum, we will rally the mainstream Australian public to reject this move," she said. "We are confident we will get huge support from unions, churches, universities and other institutions once they find out about her impeachment case."

Duterte's office on Friday received the order from the Office of the Ombudsman to respond to the recommended filing of criminal charges against her related to her alleged misuse of confidential funds. In her speech in Malaysia,