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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
March 16, 2025 | 12:00am
Former president Rodrigo Duterte attends first ICC hearing via videolink.
Philippine Star / Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte may have appeared subdued during his first appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC), but his legal team has taken a combative stance against what it described as a “troubled” and “desperate” legal institution.
Former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, who represented Duterte during his hearing on Friday, criticized both the ICC and the Marcos administration.
“Two troubled entities struck an unlikely alliance,” Medialdea told the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I judges.
“An incumbent president who wished to neutralize and choke the legacy of my client and his daughter, on the other hand, and a troubled legal institution subject to delegitimization and desperate for a prize cut and a legal show today, on the other hand,” he added.
Duterte’s lawyer and former presidential spokesman Harry Roque also expressed disappointment that the ICC did not address what he called a “kidnapping” issue.
“We believe at the earliest instance the court should rule on the legality of kidnapping as a means of acquiring jurisdiction,” Roque said in a statement following Friday’s hearing.
“We think that the ICC should again set an example in promoting international justice, and when kidnapping is allowed as a means of acquiring jurisdiction over the jurisdiction of the accused, we think this too is a travesty of justice,” he added.
Citing a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Roque said that “the illegality of the arrest should divest the court of its jurisdiction.”
“You cannot correct a wrong by committing another wrong… It is unacceptable that we accept jurisdiction acquired through kidnapping, especially when kidnapping took place in the context of the Philippines where the court is now being used as a tool of oppression by the Marcos government,” he added.
Delays
Medialdea and Roque also called out the international tribunal for limiting their access to Duterte.
“Only this morning have I met him for the first time in less than an hour to discuss legal issues. I have not been able to present him with a hard copy of the arrest warrant because we were not supplied with such,” Medialdea said in his manifestation at the chamber.
“I have not even been able to explain to him what the prosecution requested when seeking the issuance of an arrest warrant. This is because the chamber only established a redacted version of the prosecution request last night (Thursday),” he added.
Roque, meanwhile, condemned the delay in allowing Duterte’s family to visit him.
“Why does it take two days for a family member to visit the accused? That’s unacceptable,” he said, referring to Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also at The Hague.
“This is unheard of even in countries like the Philippines, where a family member, a daughter no less, was not allowed access to her father. This is a very sad day for international justice,” he added.
The Vice President was able to meet Duterte following the hearing.
New lawyer
Duterte’s camp has confirmed the addition of British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman to be part of the former president’s legal team.
Kaufman – who is from the United Kingdom and Israel – is a known defense lawyer who has represented respondents in other cases before the ICC, such as in the alleged war crimes committed in the Central African Republic.
