DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 February) — The Duterte family announced that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has barred in-person family visits during the confirmation of charges hearings for former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, scheduled from February 23 to 27.
In a statement released by the Office of the Vice President on Sunday, the family said the ICC has not approved visits from the former President’s immediate family while the tribunal conducts hearings, but added that telephone calls will be permitted.
During the confirmation of charges hearing, the ICC will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Duterte committed the crimes charged.
The former President, arrested on March 11, 2025 and was flown that evening to The Hague in the Netherlands where the ICC is based. Duterte is facing three counts of murder as crimes against humanity. He has been accused of being an “indirect co-perpetrator” in extrajudicial killings in connection with his bloody war on on illegal drugs that allegedly took place between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, during his tenure as mayor of Davao City and later as President of the Philippines.
The Duterte family has released the names of lawyers to ensure that the detained former Philippine leader is properly represented by a Filipino legal team, many of whom were appointed by him during his administration.
They are Salvador Medialdea, his former Executive Secretary; Martin Delgra III, former chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB); Silvestre Bello III, former Labor Secretary; Alfredo Lim Jr.; Caesar Dulay, former Commissioner of the International Revenue; and Salvador Panelo, the former President’s chief Presidential Legal Counsel.
“We thank the legal team for their continued dedication and professionalism during this critical time,” the Duterte family said.
They also extended their “sincere appreciation to the Filipino community in The Hague for ensuring a platform where the voice of every Filipino who speaks out against this injustice is heard.”
Duterte waived his right to attend the confirmation of charges, which the ICC approved.
“I do not wish to attend legal proceedings that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me,” Duterte wrote in a letter dated February 16, bearing the address of the ICC Detention Centre.
Duterte cited, among others, the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction over his person for his decision not to appear in the proceedings.
“I am a Filipino citizen forcibly pushed into a jet and renditioned to The Hague in the Netherlands in flagrant contravention of my country’s Constitution and of national sovereignty. My kidnapping was facilitated by the office of the incumbent President of the Philippines (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) with a plane specially chartered for this purpose,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
