Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appeared in person for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he is charged with crimes against humanity for killings during his “ war on drugs “. Prosecutors accuse Duterte, who was arrested and transferred to The Hague-based court in March 2025, of creating, funding and arming death squads that targeted drug users and dealers. Duterte denies the charges, saying he only ordered police to act in self-defence as part of his anti-drug offensive. Recommended Stories list 1 of 3 Philippine court orders arrest of VP Duterte over President Marcos threats list 2 of 3 Death toll from Philippine ferry fire rises to 76 list 3 of 3 Philippines’ Muslim-majority Bangsamoro region votes for first parliament The 81-year-old remained silent during Wednesday’s session, which covered his health, evidence disclosure and the timetable of the trial due to open on November 30. He had missed earlier hearings on medical grounds, with his lawyers saying cognitive decline has left him unfit to take part. In a filing on Tuesday, the defence said serious memory loss leaves him unable to absorb new information or reliably recall the past. Citing tests in an unpublished report by three medical experts, the lawyers said Duterte believes the year is 2007 or 2008, believes that he is 84 or 85, and could not name the sitting president of the United States. In January, however, judges ruled that he was healthy enough to stand trial and requested that he be present for proceedings.

The charges cover Duterte’s alleged role in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018, when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao, and later as president from 2016 to 2022. “Decades of murdering his own people, murdering the children of the Philippines, and he claims that he did it all for his country. He doesn’t deny it,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution after the hearings. “His promise was to kill thousands, and he did.” Philippine police say 6,200 suspects were killed in anti-drug operations, while rights groups and ICC prosecutors put the overall toll as high as 30,000. Randy Delos Santos, a Filipino whose teenage nephew was killed by police under Duterte’s presidency, told the AFP news agency he was glad the former president was able to attend. “Seeing that he is physically fit, we believe this could be the start of a process that will finally bring us, the victims, the justice we have been waiting for,” he said. Lawyers for other victims of Duterte’s draconian anti-drug campaign have argued that a full trial could encourage more families to come forward. Duterte is the first former head of state from Asia to face trial at the ICC. In 2018, he had announced the Philippines’s withdrawal from the court after it opened a preliminary investigation into his conduct, but judges last year refused to dismiss the case on those grounds.