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Six weeks ago, a van piled high with flowers pulled up at the International Criminal Court\u2019s detention center in The Hague. The court also received deliveries of birthday cards. Lots and lots of them.<\/p>\n
They were all for the newest inmate, Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, who turned 80 on March 28. He is accused of crimes against humanity, and he could spend the rest of his life in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place was inundated with flowers, and I brought some of the mail out because they didn\u2019t know what to do with it,\u201d Nicholas Kaufman, Mr. Duterte\u2019s lawyer, said in a telephone interview. He said he had left with three sacks of mail for Mr. Duterte that the court was unable to vet. In the Philippines, thousands of people dressed in the green associated with Mr. Duterte\u2019s political party flooded the streets of Davao City<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Duterte, who ordered a brutal antidrug campaign in which tens of thousands of people died<\/a> during his presidency, remains very popular in the Philippines. With Filipinos voting in midterm elections on Monday, he is expected to win another term as mayor of Davao City, his eighth, by a landslide. For now, he remains eligible for office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Duterte\u2019s sudden arrest and extradition<\/a> to The Hague in March has sharply divided the Philippines. While some polls show that a majority of Filipinos back the international investigation, many of Mr. Duterte\u2019s supporters believe that he is a victim of political persecution by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., once an ally of the Duterte clan.<\/p>\n Soon after Mr. Duterte\u2019s dramatic arrest<\/a>, Mr. Marcos\u2019s approval rating plummeted<\/a> to 25 percent from 42 percent a month earlier, in a survey conducted by Pulse Asia. But that of Sara Duterte \u2014 the current vice president and daughter of Mr. Duterte \u2014 rose to 59 percent from 52 percent.<\/p>\n Ms. Duterte has long been considered a future presidential candidate. But this election, in which half the Senate is up for grabs, could prove pivotal for her. She has been impeached on charges that include corruption, plotting to assassinate Mr. Marcos, involvement in the drug war killings and incitement to insurrection, and the country\u2019s 24 senators will decide this summer whether to convict her.<\/p>\n In Davao, where Mr. Duterte remains beloved after 22 years as mayor, his dynasty is thriving. A son, Sebastian, who is likely to win the vice-mayoral race, is expected to act as mayor if his father wins. At least seven members of his family could join the local government.<\/p>\n For the first time ever, three political families \u2014 the Nograleses, the Garcias, and the Al-ags \u2014 are combining forces to challenge the Dutertes, their former political ally, in Davao. But even Bernie Al-ag \u2014 who is now running against Sebastian Duterte \u2014 said he was unhappy about Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI also look at him as a father figure,\u201d said Mr. Al-ag, who is a former vice mayor of Davao. \u201cI continue to pray for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Mags Maglana, an N.G.O. worker who is running for a congressional seat against Paolo Duterte, another of Mr. Duterte\u2019s sons, said that before Mr. Duterte\u2019s arrest, people in Davao could differentiate between the patriarch and those around him.<\/p>\n But she is now concerned that \u201cthe outpouring of sympathy for the father would cascade over to the rest of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Duterte\u2019s camp has used his case in The Hague as a campaign tool. At a rally in Manila on Thursday, a video of his arrest was played. His supporters wore T-shirts and carried posters that said: \u201cBRING HIM HOME.\u201d Ms. Duterte told the attendees that the country was \u201cpaying the price for electing the wrong leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s even more painful is that they managed to kidnap the former president and hurriedly threw him into another country to be tried by foreigners,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That other country, the Netherlands, is far removed from the life that Mr. Duterte is used to.<\/p>\n The first issue was the food. (It is unclear what exactly is served in the detention facility but Liberia\u2019s former president, Charles Taylor, once complained that the food was too \u201cEurocentric\u201d<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Fadi El Abdallah, an I.C.C. spokesman, said the court did not comment on matters related to the private life of detainees.<\/p>\n Mr. Duterte said he was \u201cnot used\u201d to the meals on offer, according to Mr. Kaufman, prompting the lawyer to request \u201cculturally appropriate food.\u201d For Mr. Duterte, that is rice \u2014 which he is getting now, according to Ms. Duterte.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what we asked for and it\u2019s cooked perfectly,\u201d Ms. Duterte told reporters<\/a> at The Hague earlier. \u201cCorrect according to Filipino taste.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Duterte\u2019s family was allowed to supply him with groceries including his much-needed Coke Zero, according to Ms. Duterte. She told reporters that he had complained about why he was only getting Coke Zero once a day, and that he needed at least two cans a day.<\/p>\n Life is regimented. Mr. Duterte huddles with Mr. Kaufman every morning in a conference room. In the afternoon, he meets with some family members. He\u2019s allowed time to exercise in a gym that is set up with a court to play basketball<\/a>, tennis and badminton<\/a>. There is another communal space with a foosball table. He is one of six people in custody<\/a>, according to court records.<\/p>\n According to Ms. Duterte, her father, who is diabetic, has nurses monitoring him. He has access to library books and a computer that allows him to review his defense filings but is not connected to the internet. In the late mornings or afternoons, he\u2019s allowed to make telephone calls to numbers that have been vetted in advance. He has a television so he can watch the news.<\/p>\n \u201cJokingly, some people refer to it as a five star Hilton,\u201d Mr. Kaufman said. \u201cBut it\u2019s still prison.\u201d<\/p>\n The small detention facility is within a Dutch prison in The Hague. The first head of state to be held there was Ivory Coast\u2019s Laurent Gbagbo. He was acquitted along with another Ivorian political leader, Charles Bl\u00e9 Goud\u00e9, who was represented by Mr. Kaufman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n