Philippines former president fit for trial, ICC says
International Criminal Court (ICC) judges ruled that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was fit to meet. pre-trial proceedings Because of crimes against humanity.
The ICC will also hold a hearing on February 23 to decide whether the prosecution’s case against Duterte is strong enough to proceed with the trial.
Duterte’s lawyers had previously said that the 80-year-old He is ineligible to attend ICC hearings due to “cognitive impairment”. He has been detained in The Hague since March 2025.
He is accused of being responsible for dozens of murders in which thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial as part of the so-called war on drugs.
Duterte served as president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He justified his war on drugs by saying that peace and order would pave the way for economic development.
Quoting the opinions of a panel of medical experts, the ICC judges said they were “satisfied” that Duterte “was able to effectively exercise his procedural rights and is therefore eligible to take part in pre-trial proceedings.”
In their decision on Monday, the ICC judges also said that the mental capacities required to “meaningfully exercise one’s procedural and fair trial rights” do not have to be at the “conceptually highest level”.
Congresswoman Leila de Lima, one of Duterte’s harshest critics who was imprisoned on drug charges later found to be bogus, said: “This decision tells victims that their voices will not be cast aside by technical evasions in Duterte’s reckoning with the ICC.”
Duterte, his family’s successor, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. He was arrested at Manila airport in March 2025 after the collapse of his alliance with.
His arrest divided Filipinos. While the deadly drug crackdown has faced harsh criticism from civil society, its populist message is resonating with those who feel marginalized by Manila’s political elite.
In May last year, Duterte was elected mayor of Davao City despite being in prison.
His daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, is also expected to run for president in the 2028 elections, when Marcos cannot run for a second term.
