A frail-looking Rodrigo Duterte faces ICC judges for the first time

Rodrigo Duterte made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court on Friday, as emotional victims of his deadly drug war watched from Manila and a lawyer for the former Philippine president claimed his client had been abducted.

Clad in a blue jacket and tie, Duterte, 79, appeared frail and at times sleepy during the 30-minute hearing, which he was allowed to attend from a remote location in The Hague, via a video link. The only words he uttered during the session were his name, date of birth, and birthplace, when the judges asked him for those details.

Duterte’s attorney was present in the courtroom for the hearing, where the court summarized the allegations against the ex-leader and set a date for confirmation of charges, Sept. 23.

“[T]he whole world … witnessed the degrading fashion in which a former president of a sovereign country was bundled into a private aircraft and summarily transported to the Hague,” Salvador Medialdea, Duterte’s former executive secretary who was acting as his attorney, told a panel of ICC judges.

“My client was denied all access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship.”

He added: “It was a pure and simple kidnapping.”

Philippine authorities picked up the former president on an ICC arrest warrant Tuesday and later flew him by a chartered executive jet to the Netherlands, where the world court took him into custody.  

Duterte is the first former Asian head of state to be arrested and transferred to ICC custody. He faces the charge of murder qualified as a crime against humanity in connection with killings of suspected drug addicts and dealers that occurred during part of his presidential administration and dating back to 2011, when he was mayor of southern Davao city. 

Human rights groups said that as many as 20,000 suspected drug pushers and addicts were slain in Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs, although official police figures put the death toll at more than 6,000.

“Independent and impartial investigations” by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor found that Duterte also allegedly established and led a group known as the Davao Death Squad. 

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During Friday’s court session, Medialdea alleged that Duterte’s arrest was politically motivated. He said the former leader was suffering from various medical issues, including poor eyesight and problems with hearing. 

“This [arrest], all in the nature of political score-settling … An incumbent president who wished to neutralize and choke the legacy of my client and his daughter … and a troubled legal institution subject to delegitimization and desperate for a prize catch and a legal show,” Medialdea told the judges.

The lawyer was taking a swipe at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was elected to office in May 2022, in a landslide win where Sara Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, was his running mate. 

But the alliance between the Marcoses and Dutertes has since collapsed over an open public feud between President Marcos and Vice President Duterte.

Medialdea asked the court to reset the hearing to next week to explain to Duterte the charges he was facing. 

Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc denied Medialdea’s motion. She said the court doctor, who had examined Duterte upon his arrival, informed the court that the former leader was “fully mentally aware and fit.”

Motoc also said that issues related to Duterte’s arrest could be raised at the next hearing on Sept. 23. 

“At the confirmation of charges hearing, you can contest the charges, challenge the evidence presented by the prosecutor and present evidence,” Motoc said.

Also on Friday, Vice President Sara Duterte, Filipino Sen. Robinhood Padilla, and former Duterte spokesman Harry Roque asked the world court for permission to meet with the 79-year-old ex-president. Roque, a lawyer by training, is one of only four Filipinos accredited to practice before the ICC.

Back in the Philippines, police and military forces have been placed on high alert to thwart any possible outbreak of violence, with the Duterte family seen as a powerful political family, next only to the Marcoses.

Claire Castro, the press officer at Marcos’ office, said the government wanted to ensure that Duterte got “a fair trial” at the ICC, but said that the Marcos administration would not fund his defense.

“We have no jurisdiction over ICC procedures,” she told reporters on Friday. 

“After bringing the former president to the ICC, the government no longer has responsibility over him.”

Asked if the Philippines would freeze Duterte’s assets if the ICC required it to, Castro replied: “If there is a law that allows it, and they show it to us, we will comply because we have always said that we will act in accordance with the law.”

Political pundits and experts have said that Duterte’s predicament now before the ICC could not be separated from domestic Philippine politics because Marcos could have chosen to ignore the ICC charges. 

On Tuesday, shortly after the plane carrying Duterte had left Philippine airspace, Marcos met the press. He said his administration had no choice but to help enforce the international warrant because the Philippines was obliged to do so based on international treaties.

Duterte’s arrest also comes two months before the Philippines goes into midterm elections, when several allies of Duterte are campaigning to return to the Senate in a bid to protect Sara Duterte during her impeachment trial scheduled to begin in July.

Addressing his supporters before the executive jet landed in the Netherlands, the populist Duterte said in a video message that he faced a “long legal proceeding” ahead. 

“So be it, if that is my destiny.”

‘Drama king’

Meanwhile in Quezon City, at a viewing event held at the Silingan Coffee Shop, which is run by families of drug-war victims, more than 30 family members watched Duterte face the ICC.

Human rights lawyer Joel Butuyan and other human rights advocates translated into Filipino the discussions during the hearing to ensure the families understood the process. Butuyan also answered families’ legal questions.

When they caught sight of Duterte, who looked frail on screen, some relatives expressed disbelief and anger.

“He is trying to appear weak for sympathy,” a young man said.

“He is being a drama king,” a woman from the far end of the room said.

Luzviminda Siapo, whose teenage son was killed by armed men after being accused of being a marijuana peddler in 2017, wept as the hearing ended.

“These are tears of joy,” Siapo shared with the other attendees. 

“There is still hope for justice, after all.”

Marilyn Malimban, whose partner was killed by armed men in 2016, could not help but feel emotional.

“The pain that Duterte and his family are feeling is nothing to what we went [through] and are going through,” Malimban said. “We never thought that this day would come.” 

Camille Elemia in Manila contributed to this report.