Judges Reine Alapini-Gansou, Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Socorro Flores Liera of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 —PHOTOS BY MARIANNE BERMUDEZ, ICC SCREEN GRAB
MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked former President Rodrigo Duterte’s plea to reschedule his first court appearance.
Duterte’s legal counsel and former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea made this known in his manifestation during the pretrial on Friday night (Philippine time).
“I repeat my respectful request, which was rejected this morning to postpone the substantive aspect of this hearing to the next week when I will have the opportunity to sit with my client and to explain to him what the confirmation hearing is and what disclosure is and how the prosecution alleges that he committed crimes. I thank the court for its attention and regret to say that I do not have instructions to continue my submission any further today,” Medialdea said.
However, Iulia Antoanella Motoc, presiding judge of The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, said there is no need to postpone the initial appearance as it does not need “much preparation.”
“Now, counsel, with regard to your request for another hearing to be held next week, well, your initial request that was, this was not accepted by the court. Now, you have seen the two decisions of the court that have been disclosed to you, and you are aware of the fact that these two decisions were refused. And this is tied into the fact that this first initial appearance hearing does not need much preparation, as I have said to you on a number of occasions,” Motoc told Medialdea.
Motoc explained this is because Friday’s “hearing is neither the start of the trial nor is it a confirmation of charges hearing. During today’s hearing, no evidence will be collected or presented, and the issues of Mr. Duterte’s guilt or innocence will therefore not be addressed.”
Motoc also said Article 61 of the Rome Statute — the ICC’s founding treaty — and Rule 1211 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence state that the main purpose of the initial appearance is to answer three questions.
“Firstly, the Chamber must ensure that the person who was the subject of the arrest warrant has been informed of the crimes of which he is accused. Second, the Chamber must ensure that this person has been informed of his rights as recognized by the Rome Statute,” she explained.
“Third, the Chamber must set a date on which it intends to hold a confirmation of charges hearing. The Chamber notes that your counsel, Mr. Duterte, filed two motions, one in relation with today’s hearing, and you may be aware that these two motions have not been accepted by the Chamber because of the nature of today’s hearing. No further discussion on the matter is necessary during this hearing, because, as I said at an earlier stage, the aim of this hearing today is to introduce the parties and to ascertain the charges and to set a date for the confirmation of charges hearing at a later stage,” she added.
The ICC set Duterte’s confirmation of charges on September 23, 2025.
Motoc said there would be no trial if the charges against Duterte were not confirmed, and before the trial Duterte can file a petition for interim release.
Duterte attended the pretrial via video link.
The 79-year-old Duterte, clad in a blue suit and tie, sounded frail when he spoke briefly to confirm his name and date of birth.
READ: ICC sets Duterte confirmation of charges hearing Sept. 23
He was the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC over crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16 2019. The Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute during this period.
In March 2018, Duterte declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, but the withdrawal took effect a year after 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 the Duterte administration claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.
However, 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 cases were extrajudicial killings.