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People tape flags of the Philippines on a life-size cartboard cutout of former Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte during a demonstration in his support outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will be questioned on charges of crimes against humanity, in The Hague on February 23, 2026.
AFP / Simon Wohlfahrt
MANILA, Philippines — Former chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Rodrigo Duterte's Filipino legal team is considering raising the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction before the United Nations after the tribunal rejected the former president's latest bid for temporary release.
The statement came after the ICC Appeals Chamber unanimously affirmed March 6, Friday the January 26 ruling of Pre-Trial Chamber I ordering Duterte's continued detention in The Hague.
Duterte will remain at the ICC detention center after the appeals judges rejected the challenge filed by his lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman.
Panelo said the next step being considered by Duterte's camp is to question the ICC's authority to hear the case.
"How can (the ICC) convict (former president Duterte) if it has no jurisdiction? That's why I am planning to bring the issue before the United Nations," Panelo said over Bilyonaryo News Channel.
"It (ICC) is not even part of the United Nations. It is more on telling the world what an injustice if there is such a conviction," he added.
Panelo also argued that the case should fail if judged on the merits.
"If the decision will be based on the merits, it should be dismissed. But given some external considerations, like for instance, I cannot understand why this court has assumed jurisdiction despite there being none," he said.
Duterte has been detained at the ICC detention center in The Hague since March 12, 2025, a day after he was arrested in the Philippines and turned over to the court.
He is facing charges of crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder over killings linked to the so-called Davao death squad and his administration's anti-illegal drugs campaign. — Based on a report by Janvic Mateo, The STAR
