Ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to skip ICC hearing, refuses to recognise its jurisdiction

MANILA – Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has waived his right to appear – whether in person or on video – before the International Criminal Court (ICC) next week as he refuses to recognise the jurisdiction of the Hague-based tribunal over him.

His lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, in a six-page document dated Feb 18, relayed to the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber Duterte’s written request of his decision to skip the confirmation of charges hearing at The Hague on Feb 23.

“I, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, wish to waive my right to attend the hearing on the confirmation of charges currently fixed for 23-27 February 2026. I understand the consequences of my waiving this right which has been thoroughly explained to me by my counsel and I trust him and his team to challenge the sufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence on my behalf,” read the letter signed by the ex-president.

“I do not wish to follow these proceedings from outside the courtroom through the use of communications technology. An original copy of this waiver and my signature is in the hands of my lawyers,” he continued.

Duterte stressed that there is no reason for him to attend the hearing as he maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over his case and that he was merely “kidnapped” when he was arrested on March 11, 2025.

“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 with a plane specially chartered for this purpose,” he said.

Saying that he is “old, tired and frail”, he said he has accepted the likelihood of him dying while in detention.

“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. I have accepted the fact that I could die in prison,” Duterte said.

Duterte is detained in a Dutch prison complex in the district of Scheveningen, as he faces three counts of murder for being an alleged “indirect co-perpetrator” in a “common plan” to target drug suspects, thousands of whom ended up brutally killed.

He also addressed the charges for the first time since being held in ICC custody, saying that the “claim that I oversaw a policy of extrajudicial killings is an outrageous lie” raised by his critics. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER