To die in a foreign land is to become a ghost in a place you never truly belonged.
— Anonymous

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — In 1944, President Manuel Quezon died while in exile in Saranac Lake, New York and 45 years later, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (PBBM)'s father, Ferdinand Sr., died also in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii.

From what we know, Quezon and PBBM's father are the (only) two presidents of the Philippines who passed away in another country and a third may happen as former president Rodrigo 'Rody' languishes in detention at the Scheveningen Prison in the Hague, Netherlands.

Quezon was expatriated to New York while the Commonwealth government was in exile in the United States due to the Japanese invasion. On the other hand, Marcos Sr. was forced to leave the country after he was ousted from power as a result of the bloodless People’s Power Revolution.

Meanwhile, Duterte, also known as 'The Punisher', was arrested last March 12 (the current year) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City arriving groma trip in Hong Kong and was then transported to the Netherlands to face trial over charges of crimes against humanity for the death of thousands allegedly killed during the Davao strongman's ruthless war on drugs.

The question now that begs to be answered is would Duterte be the third Filipino president to die not in his homeland but elsewhere in another country?

In a statement, Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa said he hoped that his 'mentor' Duterte would die in the Philippines and not in a foreign land. He bared plans to ask his colleagues in the Senate to take up Duterte's immediate repatriation from The Hague.

Prior to this, the senator expressed concerned about Duterte’s health after the former president’s wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman Duterte, described her 80-year-old husband as “skin and bones.”

Mrs. Duterte likewise told Dela Rosa that her husband had expressed a final wish—to be cremated in The Hague and have only his ashes returned to the Philippines—in the event of his passing.

Duterte’s wish to be cremated was confirmed by his daughter, Vice President 'Inday' Sara Duterte-Carpio, who ingormed reporters at The Hague that her father has already laid out plans if he dies while in custody at the Scheveningen Prison, including funeral plans.

In Filipino, the vice president stated that “if (my father) dies in the Netherlands, his body should not be brought back here in the Philippines. It should be cremated here and the ashes should be brought back.”
She added that her father humorously quipped that he would think about haunting her if his wishes were not met.

In ending, 'Inday Sara' enthused that it is only natural for an 80-year-old man like the former president to think about his death plans, and it would be best that everyone knew his last wishes so that they would be carried out if that happens.

While having lunch at posh Seaside Original Palutuan restaurant at SM Sucat in Parañaque City, we asked one of its waiters, Raul, to comment about Duterte’s return to the Philippines and in answer, he highlighted the good deeds the former president had done for the country: "I am not really pro-Duterte but it would only be right to allow him to return because he had served the Philippines well. We would have been lost during the pandemic if it was not for him."
Well said . . .

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