Marcos not monitoring Duterte's ICC pre-trial hearing

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February 20, 2026 | 4:27pm

But Palace says DOJ may help victims travel to The Hague

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not be watching former president Rodrigo Duterte's confirmation of charges hearing next week at the International Criminal Court, Malacañang said Friday, February 20. 

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro Marcos does not need to follow the hearing, set to begin Monday, February 23, because the case is a "personal matter" for Duterte and was filed by Filipino complainants.  

Though the Palace says there may be government assistance for the complainants or victims raising funds to travel to the Netherlands. 

"The president does not need to monitor. What he's monitoring are the interests of the country," Castro said in Filipino, adding however that the president would need to be "updated" on the case at a minimum.

The pre-trial hearing next week comes nearly a year after the former president was arrested and transferred to ICC custody in The Hague, making him the first Asian leader ever to be detained at the court. 

Marcos had previously resisted cooperation with the ICC and had, at one point, spoken in favor of thwarting ICC prosecutors' access to evidence and witnesses related to Duterte's drug war. 

But a bitter fallout between him and the Duterte family — fueled by Vice President Sara Duterte's public death threat against Marcos in November 2024 and her father's admissions about ordering killings at congressional hearings — appeared to reverse that stance.  

Marcos has maintained that the arrest was carried out under obligations to Interpol and Republic Act 9851, the Philippine law on crimes against international humanitarian law, and not as direct cooperation with the ICC. 

Asked about ongoing fundraising efforts by drug war complainants who cannot afford to fly to the Netherlands for the hearing, Castro said the Department of Justice had previously committed to protecting and assisting them, though she could not say how far that assistance would go.

"Because the complainants are Filipinos, they will be protected and helped," Castro said, paraphrasing the DOJ's position. "To what extent? I will give you an update."

Will Duterte be present in the courtroom?

In a letter dated February 17, the former president waived his right to attend, telling the court he is "old, tired, and frail" and does not wish to sit through proceedings. He also refused to follow the hearing remotely.

The ICC prosecutor is seeking to confirm three counts of crimes against humanity of murder covering killings allegedly carried out between 2011 and 2019. 

The confirmation of charges hearing is itself not the trial proper. It is a pre-trial proceeding that determines whether there is enough evidence to send Duterte's case to one. 

Judges have 60 days after the hearing to issue a decision.

If they find enough evidence establishing substantial grounds to believe Duterte committed the alleged crimes, the chamber confirms the charges and the case moves to trial before a Trial Chamber.

They may confirm all three counts of crimes against humanity or only some of them.

If the judges find insufficient evidence, they can move to decline one or more of the charges. 

The judges can also ask the ICC prosecution to amend a charge. 

There is also the separate matter of Duterte's detention review, scheduled for February 27, the last day of hearings. The Rome Statute requires an oral hearing on the detention of a person at least once a year.