Rodrigo Duterte wants Medialdea as legal counsel in ICC trial

IN TRANSIT. Former President Rodrigo Duterte talks with his former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on board the chartered jet taking them to The Hague, in this picture released by Sen. Bong Go on Wednesday. (Photo from REUTERS, AP, SEN. BONG GO/FACEBOOK)

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants his former executive secretary in Malacañang — Salvador Medialdea — to be his legal counsel, according to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a handwritten letter dated March 12, 2025, Duterte wrote: “I, Rodrigo R. Duterte, hereby appoint Atty. Salvador Medialdea as one of my counsels in the ICC proceedings.”

Duterte will face the ICC’s pre-trial in The Hague, Netherlands, at 2:00 p.m. on Friday (9:00 p.m. Philippine time).

The former president arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday night (Philippine time) and was turned over to the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague.

He was the subject of an arrest warrant by the ICC over crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.

The country was still party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC accord during this period.

In March 2018, Duterte declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute or the treaty that established the criminal court.

But the withdrawal took effect a year later, or in March 2019, so the ICC retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes in the Philippines based on the time when the country was still a member.

The war against illegal drugs that took place during Duterte’s presidential term claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.

Human rights watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.

They said several of these incidents were extrajudicial killings.