ICC junks new request to free Duterte

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked a new request to temporarily free former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

An appeals chamber of five judges unanimously rejected the defense’s plea for fairness of proceedings related to the former president’s health.

“Having rejected or dismissed all of the Defence’s arguments, the Appeals Chamber rejects the Defence’s ground of appeal in its entirety,” said the appeals chamber in a ruling made on Friday, March 6.

This simply means Duterte will still remain in detention, and the next opportunity to bid for his freedom again would be in the yearly review of detention, which was heard by the pre-trial chamber on the last day of the confirmation of charges hearings.

Under the Rome Statute, a suspect cannot be released if he presents the risk factors, which are the danger to flee, to obstruct justice by intimidating witnesses, and to recommit the same alleged crimes.

“The former president has already made his views known regarding the prospects of release in his waiver. In my opinion, the reasoning disclosed in the latest judgment simply reinforces the Court’s policy of never releasing any surrendered suspect in a crimes against humanity case — no matter what his personal humanitarian circumstances,” Duterte’s lead defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said in a statement following Friday’s ruling.

In October 2025, the pre-trial chamber ruled all three risk factors were present, owing to Duterte’s influence and network, and consistent statements not recognizing the court. That November, the appeals chamber affirmed that decision.

However, last January, Kaufman wanted the pre-trial chamber to issue a new report that would discuss how the former president’s alleged cognitive impairment would impact the risk factors. The pre-trial chamber refused to do so, saying it was unnecessary, and declined to rely on the medical report submitted by experts tapped by the defense for their own pleadings.

An independent panel of medical experts had ruled that Duterte did not exhibit cognitive impairment beyond signs of aging for a man his age. The pre-trial chamber ruled Duterte was fit for trial.

Kaufman said this treatment of this issue was an error in law, an abuse of discretion, and an unfair proceeding. He brought it up with the appeals chamber, which is how we got to this latest rejection.

Among others, the appeals chamber said the defense’s arguments this time were not fully substantiated, especially since health had already been tackled before.

The appeals chamber said the alleged cognitive impairment did not “amount to a new fact or changed circumstance that would warrant modifying the Initial Decision on Detention under article 60(3) of the Statute.”

The “Appeals Chamber does not consider that the Pre-Trial Chamber failed to comply with its obligation to provide a reasoned decision and therefore made an error of law,” the five judges said.

Duterte’s defense team had been losing all of its major pleadings so far. It is currently waiting for the decision on their appeal to remove jurisdiction. They had previously lost that one, too, in 2025, but they elevated it to the appeals chamber.

The pre-trial chamber has 60 days from February 27 to decide whether they would move Duterte into a full-blown trial. – Rappler.com