By Carlito Pablo
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will spend Christmas in prison after the International Criminal Court denied his request to be released temporarily.
Duterte has been locked up at the ICC detention centre near The Hague, Netherlands since March 12, 2025. He was handed over to the court following his arrest in the previous day in Manila.
The ex-leader is facing charges of murder in connection with the war against drugs that he waged as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president of the Asian nation.
After rejecting his bid for interim release, the ICC will determine next whether the 80-year-old ex-president is fit to stand trial.
A team of medical experts is expected to hand in its report about Duterte’s condition to the court on December 5.
Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman told GMA Integrated News that the defence team will submit its reply to the findings of the medical experts’ panel on or before December 12.
The report also noted that Kaufman and his team are also expecting a decision on their appeal regarding the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I’s rejection of the defense team’s challenge to its jurisdiction.
But this will have to wait until after the Holiday season.
The decision on Duterte’s appeal regarding jurisdiction is expected to be released when the ICC’ resumes session in 2026.
The tribunal is suspending its session on December 12. The ICC will open its 2026 judicial year on January 27 next year.
Meantime, Duterte will continue to be held at Scheveningen Prison, also known as the Hague Hilton.
The ICC Appeals Chamber on November 28, 2025 rejected the appeal of Duterte and confirmed the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I on September 26, 2025 not to grant temporary liberty to the former leader.
In a media release, the ICC noted that the Pre-Trial Chamber found that Duterte’s detention is necessary to prevent him from absconding trial.
To recall, the chamber previously postponed its hearings to confirm charges against Duterte, which was originally scheduled for September 23, 2025.
The postponement was made to allow the court to decide on his fitness to stand trial.
If the Pre-Trial Chamber finds enough evidence to support all or some of the charges, Duterte will be tried by a Trial Chamber.
Prosecutors at the ICC have formally charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity for murder.
The alleged crimes involve 76 deaths in incidents that occurred when Duterte was Davao city mayor and president of the Philippines.
The ICC has tagged several alleged co-perpetrators of Duterte in the implementation of his drug war. Their names have been redacted in documents made available online.
On November 9, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Dela Rosa served as Duterte’s first chief of the Philippine National Police. He was also a ranking police officer during Duterte’s time as mayor of Davao.
The South China Morning Post quoted Rommel Lopez, a communications professor at the Holy Cross of Davao College and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, saying that Duterte’s allies likely expected the setback about the former leader’s failed bid for temporary release.
Lopez said that the Duterte camp is “more concerned about agitating their base, so the DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters) will get angrier at President Ferdinand Marcos [Jr.]”.
“Their endgame is Sara becoming president in 2028,” the academic said, referring to Duterte’s daughter and Vice President Sara Duterte.
“They know they have little to no influence over the ICC.”
Lopez also noted that surveys show “about 50 to 51 per cent of Filipino respondents agree that Duterte should be held accountable for the killings related to his anti-drug campaign, while roughly 32 per cent disagree”.
“Most of those who disagree are from Mindanao, where the Dutertes have a solid base,” he added.
ReyFort Media 
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