Philippines’ Ex-President to make first ICC appearance

COLOMBO (News 1st); Former Philippines President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s initial appearance is scheduled to take place on Friday, 14 March 2025, at 14:00 hours (Hague local time), before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court.

Authorities of the Republic of the Philippines arrested Duterte in accordance with an arrest warrant issued under seal on 7 March 2025. He was surrendered to the custody of the ICC on 12 March 2025.

Duterte is suspected of murder qualified as a crime against humanity, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019. 

During this time, Duterte was, at varying times, the President of the Philippines, the Mayor of Davao City, and, allegedly, the head of the Davao Death Squad, said the International Criminal Court.

During the initial appearance hearing, the judges will verify the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. He will be informed of the charges against him and of his rights under the ICC Rome Statute. 

Pre-Trial Chamber I is composed of Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc (Presiding judge) and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.

Duterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed as many as 30,000 people.

The 79-year-old former leader was turned over by the Philippines to The Hague-based court on Wednesday, becoming the first-ever Asian leader to be charged before the international tribunal.

As he landed in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the former leader appeared to accept responsibility for his actions, saying in a Facebook video: “I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible.”

Duterte’s swift arrest in Manila and turnover to the ICC came amid a spectacular meltdown in relations between his family and the Marcos family, who had joined forces in the Philippines presidential elections in 2022 and won in a landslide.

Current President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte – Rodrigo’s daughter – are at loggerheads, with the latter facing an impeachment trial over charges, including an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.

Sara Duterte is in the Netherlands to support her father, after labelling his arrest “oppression and persecution”.