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Duterte Showed Up In Court. His Own Lawyer Said The Quiet Part.
On 16 September 2026, Rodrigo Duterte appeared in person at the International Criminal Court in The Hague — his first courtroom appearance since he was surrendered to the tribunal in March 2025. He had previously attended only by video link, and then stopped attending; his lawyers said he was too ill.
The former president of the Philippines is 81. He faces charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and attempted murder, over the "war on drugs" conducted while he was in office. He denies the charges.
How many people were killed remains contested: the Philippine national police recorded more than 6,000; human rights groups put the figure as high as 30,000. The two have never been reconciled.
The hearing was the third status conference and dealt largely with scheduling. His lead counsel, Peter Haynes KC — appointed in May 2026 — told the judges the case was "a mess", and that if he had a younger and healthier client he would ask for the trial date to be put back six months and disclosure restarted. He said he would not ask.
Three experts are reassessing whether Duterte is fit to stand trial. The chamber still intends to begin on 30 November 2026 and to sit through Christmas.
References
Reporting drawn from ICC - AP - Al Jazeera - Rappler - Bloomberg - Washington Post
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
For the first time in 18 months, Rodrigo Duterte sat in a courtroom in The Hague
The former president of the Philippines is eighty-one. He faces charges of crimes against humanity, murder, and attempted murder over the drug war he ran
He denies all of it
He had come to the court before only by video link, and then he stopped coming at all. His lawyers said he was too ill
How many people were killed is still contested. The national police recorded more than six thousand. Human rights groups put it as high as thirty thousand
This week's hearing was mostly about the calendar, and the calendar is the whole problem
His lead counsel is Peter Haynes, a King's Counsel who once won a rare acquittal at this court. Listen to what he told the judges
which is a mess. If I had a younger and healthier client I would invite you to put back the trial date by six months and start disclosure again but I don't.
He is saying the defense would normally ask for more time and that he will not ask for it because his client may not have it.
Three experts are now reassessing whether Duterte is fit to stand trial at all
The court still intends to begin on the 30th of November and to sit through Christmas
A trial exists to establish what happened. This one is also a race against one man's health, and everybody in that room knows it
All footage is the International Criminal Court's own record of the hearing.
