Omar and Isabelle Duterte in front of the Milan
Cathedral. Dec. 21 Twitter post. From Milan Informer.
Some members of a traveling group that includes President Duterte’s two grandchildren on a holiday in Europe lost their passports in Milan and have been issued travel documents by the consulate, the Philippine consulate in Milan said today.
The consulate did not say who and how many among the members of Omar and Isabelle’s group lost their passports and were issued travel documents.
Contrary to initial reports that those who lost their passports were the President’s grand children, Omar Vincent Duterte, 24, and his sister, Isabelle, 18 – children of former Davao City vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, the Philippine consulate in Milan said: “President’s grandchildren did not lose their passports in Milan. Other members of the group they were traveling with were issued travel documents by the Consulate yesterday. For emergencies, Consulate may be reached through +39-3880933822.”
Omar and Isabelle are part of a big group that include their mother, Lovelie Sangkola Sumera, and some members of the Presidential Security Group vacationing in Europe.
The PSG’s mandate is to provide protective security to the President and their immediate families, former Presidents and their immediate families, Malacañang Palace, Visiting heads of states or diplomats and Cabinet Members and their families traveling with them.
The group of Omar and Isabelle arrived in Paris, France Dec. 18, then went to Geneva, Switzerland before going to Milan, Italy on Dec. 21. They hired two vans for the five hour trip from Paris to Geneva and four hour drive from Geneva to Milan.
Isabelle posted on Twitter a photo with her brother in front of Milan Cathedral photo- bombed by a flying dove.
A DFA official said the standard procedure to get travel documents when a Filipino citizen loses his or her passport outside the country is to file an incident report with the police of the place where the loss occurred.
For a new passport, there is a normal waiting time but “Maybe they will be given preference,” he said.
“They can be issued travel documents, which are just as good. But those are only good for one way trips- for coming home,” he further said.
The Philippine Embassy in Milan website posted an announcement that it would be closed on Dec. 24, 25, 26 and 31. For emergencies,it gave the number +39-3880933822.
The source said the group of Omar and Isabelle were supposed to go back to Paris for Christmas up to New Year with their hotel accommodation booked. It is not known which hotel they are booked.
With members of their group holding one-way travel documents, it is not known if they would still push through with the rest of their European vacation. “It would be a diplomatic problem if they are caught travelling without the proper travel documents,” the source said.
Malacañang did not respond to VERA Files query on the Milan incident.
The President, in a speech in Patikul, Sulu last March 27 said he wants Omar to be mayor of Davao city. “At least there would be a Muslim mayor,” he said. Omar’s mother, a Muslim, is separated from Paolo Duterte. But Duterte’s daughter, Sara, Davao city mayor, is running for re-election in the 2019 May election.
Isabelle, on the other hand, figured in an online quarrel with her father December last year. She hinted on Twitter that her father had mauled a friend and Paolo angrily called her a “disgrace.”
She also figured in a controversy when she made the Malacañang Palace hallway a backdrop for her pre-debut shoot .
