‘I am old, tired, and frail’: Duterte asks ICC to skip pre-trial

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Former president Rodrigo Duterte has made a last-minute to request not to attend his confirmation of charges hearings in person, putting some questions up in the air for a pre-trial that had previously appeared all set to go.

“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 said in a letter typed for him on Tuesday, February 17, and which his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday, February 18.

The first day of the confirmation of charges hearing is set on Monday, February 23, giving the ICC pre-trial chamber judges only until Friday, February 20 to decide what to do.

According to ICC rules, the pre-trial chamber could decide to push through with the hearings even without Duterte’s, provided that they find basis to do so. They could also deny the request, and order Duterte to appear.

This would all have to happen within the next two days. Victims of the drug war, and their lawyers, are all scheduled to arrive in The Hague this weekend. Filipino journalists have started arriving, too.

Kaufman said that they had made the request earlier, but were constrained to only file Wednesday because the pre-trial chamber requested that Duterte must personally execute the waiver.

“Mr. Duterte is not now capable of ‘personally executing’ anything, let alone writing a legally reasoned waiver in his own hand. That is why he has lawyers both speaking for him and drafting documents on his behalf,” said Kaufman.

Nevertheless, Kaufman said Duterte verbally dictated the waiver to his legal team on February 16, which was typed up onto a document, and subsequently re-approved by the former president on February 17.

The rules also provide that suspects waiving their right to appear can still follow the procedure outside of court via videolink, but Duterte also does not want that option.

“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. I do not wish to follow these proceedings from outside the courtroom through the use of communications technology,” Duterte said.

“I have accepted the fact that I could die in prison. But those that desire this fate for me should know that my heart and soul will always remain in the Philippines,” the former president added.

Kaufman still reiterated in his request that Duterte is cognitively impaired, even as the pre-trial proceedings were scheduled because an independent panel of medical experts found him fit to participate in the pre-trial.

Duterte is accused of three counts of murder that make up crimes against humanity, covering 49 specific incidents of killings across the years, from the Davao Death Squad to the war on drugs. The incidents covered killed 78 victims.

Read Duterte’s waiver in full below:

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. 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.

My reasons are as follows:

I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over my person. 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.

The claim that I oversaw a policy of extra-judicial killings is an outrageous lie. These claims have been peddled by my political opponents for many years and, as my nation knows, they are based on the word of individuals whose credibility has been thoroughly discredited.

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. But those that desire this fate for me should know that my heart and soul will always remain in the Philippines.

I am proud of my legacy and of my service to my countrymen around the world. Let no one doubt my love for and loyalty to the Filipino nation.

Kaninyo, ako, magpabiling suluguon.
Rodrigo Roa Duterte

– Rappler.com