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Philippines ex-president Duterte to skip ICC trial, human rights lawyers call it 'cowardice'
Duterte had previously refused to make a physical appearance during hearings seeking his temporary release from the ICC detention centre at The Hague
- PUBLISHED: Thu 19 Feb 2026, 5:06 PM
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte will not make an appearance at the confirmation of charges against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, a move decried by human rights lawyers as “an act of cowardice.”
Duterte said he will not attend the hearings from February 23 to 27, noting his decision is part of his defence team’s challenge to the sufficiency of the prosecution's evidence against him.
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“I do not wish to follow these proceedings from outside the courtroom through the use of communications technology. An original copy of this waiver and my signature is in the hands of my lawyers,” said Duterte, as he accused Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of “facilitating” his “kidnapping” by providing a plane specially chartered for sending him to The Netherlands.
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The ICC, meanwhile, said it will discuss Duterte’s request and will make a public announcement before the session starts on February 23.
Human rights lawyers, particularly those from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), are not taking things sitting down. NUPL president Ephraim Cortez said Duterte should not “act like a scared old man” in repeatedly refusing to make an appearance in court.
Cortez underscored Duterte’s repeated tactic of absenting himself from ICC hearings as an “act of cowardice.”
Duterte had previously refused to make physical appearance during hearings seeking his temporary release from the ICC detention centre at the Scheveningen District of The Hague.
“What we saw when he was presented before the ICC in March 2025 was a scared old man. No defiance,” Cortez said, adding Duterte was unlike Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro did who were defiant when they faced their accusers.
Instead, Duterte “cowered in fear like a dog with its tail between its legs,” Cortez said.
Cortez said Duterte is wasting his chance to confront his accusers by “chickening out.”
“Without his bodyguards and cordon sanitaire, he could not muster enough courage to confront his accusers,” he said.