(UPDATE) THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has granted former president Rodrigo Duterte’s request to skip the hearing for the confirmation of charges against him on Feb. 23.
In a court document issued on Friday, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said the hearing on Feb. 23 to 27 will proceed as scheduled in Duterte’s absence.
The ICC said the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC in 1998, allows the confirmation hearing to push through even if the suspect waives the right to be present.
“The Chamber assessed that the information included in the request, signed by Mr. Duterte, is sufficient to fulfil the requirements provided for in such provisions,” ICC spokesman Oriane Maillet said.
“In particular, the Chamber noted that Mr. Duterte stated that he understands he has the right to be present at the confirmation hearing and the consequences of waiving this right, which have been thoroughly explained to him by his Counsel,” Maillet said.
However, the Chamber said Duterte must be present during the trial if the charges are confirmed, since the Rome Statute does not permit trials in the absence of the accused.
“Note that the suspect’s absence next week is based on the waiver of the suspect, not on reasons related to health,” Maillet said.
Duterte was flown from Manila directly to the ICC Detention Center in The Hague, Netherlands, in March last year.
Maillet said the center meets the highest international human rights standards for the treatment of detainees.
“Detained persons are presumed by the Court to be innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt,” she said.
Following the hearing, the judges will have 60 days to issue a written decision.
ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
The true number of killings is thought to be in the thousands, and lawyers for the victims have argued that if the case goes to trial, it could encourage many more families to come forward.
In a filing on Friday, the prosecutors objected to Duterte’s request to waive his right to appear at the hearing, saying his refusal to recognize the court’s jurisdiction is not a valid excuse.
The filing, signed by Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, noted that such requests are granted “sparingly” and are considered “exceptional” in nature.
Duterte claims to have been kidnapped and brought to The Hague, and that the charges related to the war on drugs are an “outrageous lie” invented by political opponents.
The prosecution dismissed the arguments as “a continuation of Mr. Duterte’s rejection of the legitimacy of the proceedings,” and do not constitute legal cause for absence.
The prosecutors also accused the defense of misrepresenting medical records, noting that while it highlighted poor scores on certain cognitive tests, it omitted the expert panel’s conclusion that Duterte was an “unreliable historian” regarding his own health assessments.
The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City.
The second relates to 14 murders of so-called high-value targets in 2016 and 2017 when he was president.
The third charge covers 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.
Duterte denies the charges, his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman told journalists ahead of the hearing.
“Mr Duterte... grieves and regrets the death of people as a result of drug-related crime, but he denies any connection to this,” Kaufman said.
“He denies that there was a policy to murder alleged suspects or criminal suspects or alleged drug users, as the prosecution states. He denies that there was a conspiracy to do so with other alleged co-perpetrators in his administration.”
Human Rights Watch said the hearing was “a critical step in ensuring justice for victims of the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs.’”
“The ICC case reflects the determination of victims and their families to advance justice against all odds and dangers,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at the nongovernmental organization.
The case comes with the ICC facing intense political pressure, including two rounds of US sanctions imposed since June 2025.
The Philippines left the ICC in 2019, on Duterte’s instructions, but the court has ruled that it still has jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed there between 2011 and 2019.
The defense has appealed the ruling, with a decision still pending.
Malacañang on Friday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not be monitoring the ICC pretrial hearing, but would be kept updated since fellow Filipinos were involved in the case.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that whatever happens at the hearing next week, it would be “personal” to Duterte.
A Filipino-led group in Europe said Duterte’s decision to waive his right to attend the confirmation of charges hearing was cowardly.
In a statement posted on their Facebook page on Thursday, Duterte Panagutin Europe said the former president refuses to face the families of the victims of his drug war.
“Duterte’s waiver of his right to attend the confirmation of charges hearing reeks of lies and cowardice. After his arrogance in assuring backing for his mercenaries and challenging the ICC to arrest him, he now refuses to face kin of victims who have endured years of injustice under the Philippine legal system,” the group said.
Duterte denied he made extrajudicial killings a policy of his administration.
“This denial comes after the whole world witnessed him order the police and military to shoot and kill anyone suspected of using drugs, including women and children. He even used his drug war as pretext to target and kill activists. There is no amount of lies enough to cover up thousands killed under Duterte’s regime,” the group said.
Filipino lawyer and former Ateneo School of Government dean Tony La Viña said preliminary evidence is presented during a confirmation hearing.
“Hindi pa siya proof, hindi pa siya testimony (It’s not yet proof nor a testimony), but the basis of the charges, what he is being accused of, and what is the evidence for those charges,” La Vina said in an interview on the sidelines of a book launch in Pasay City on Friday.
“The defense is supposed to give their case as to why this evidence is not valid, not sufficient for the charges. Hindi pa ito guilt (It’s not yet a determination of guilt). It’s just whether or not the charges are appropriate, and therefore the trial should proceed,” he added.
The confirmation hearing, he explained, is similar to pretrial proceedings in the Philippine justice system.