Malacañang remarked on Thursday that former President Rodrigo Duterte appears to be in “good condition” and seems to have accepted the inevitability of his upcoming trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
During a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro offered observations on Duterte’s demeanor after he attended a pre-trial session in The Hague in person.
“Unang-una sa mga kababayan natin, nakita naman po natin na maganda naman po ang kalagayan ng ating dating Pangulo na si dating Pangulong Duterte,” Castro said. (First of all, to our fellow Filipinos, we have seen that the condition of former president Duterte is quite good.)
“At nakita naman namin na mukhang accepted naman niya po na magtuloy-tuloy ang hearing sa ICC,” she added. (We also saw that he seems to have accepted that the proceedings at the ICC will continue.)
Duterte was present during Wednesday’s third status conference convened by ICC Trial Chamber III as judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel discussed pre-trial preparations regarding three counts of crimes against humanity linked to his administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
The appearance marked the first time the former president was seen publicly since March 2025, when he was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and subsequently flown to the Netherlands under ICC custody. While Duterte had participated via videoconference during initial proceedings, he had waived his attendance at subsequent hearings until now.
The former chief executive’s formal trial at the tribunal is set to commence on November 30.