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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
February 23, 2026 | 1:05pm
MANILA, Philippines — Rodrigo Duterte will not be in the courtroom when judges begin weighing this week whether he should stand trial for crimes against humanity.
But a select few families of those killed in his drug war have come anyway, crossing continents to witness a hearing where they will not speak, but will be formally recognized as part of the case against him.
This four-day confirmation of charges hearing, set from today to Friday, February 27, is not yet a trial for the former president. Instead, a three-judge chamber will hear both sides and the victims on whether there is enough evidence to say that there are "substantial grounds" Duterte committed the crimes he is accused of — a much higher bar than what was needed to secure the warrant of arrest last year.
The ICC earlier granted Duterte's request to skip the hearings entirely — a disappointing development for victims hoping to see the former president in court, but a right that the Rome Statute permits Duterte to have. The former president, whose counsel claims to be unable to follow the proceedings, was earlier deemed fit to stand trial by a panel of medical experts.
No verdict will be made this week, as judges have until 60 days after the hearings to do so.
But this week's presentation of evidence in court is the closest the drug war, as an alleged killing campaign against innocent civilians, has ever come to a legal reckoning in open court.
It has been a painful process for the victims to participate in the ICC proceedings. They have had to endure a barrage of online attacks and harassment aimed at delegitimizing their testimonies.
"We never wished for this kind of life," Sheera Escudero, whose brother Ephraim was killed at the height of Duterte's drug war in 2017, said at a press conference in The Hague on Sunday. "We just want a peaceful life with a complete family where my nephews will grow up with their father."
Over 500 victims represented by three lawyers
The allegations against Duterte are built around three counts of murder and attempted murder covering 49 incidents, 78 named victims, and a period stretching from Duterte's time as Davao City mayor to his presidency.
Escudero is among 539 victims who have been granted the right to participate in the proceedings. They will not be witnesses this week but they will be represented by three lawyers or "common legal representatives": Joel Butuyan and Gilbert Andres of the Center for International Law Philippines, and a representative from the ICC's Office of Public Counsel for Victims.
It is the first time for the ICC to permit this level of participation of victims at the pre-trial stage.
Under ICC rules, these common legal representatives do not argue the case the way prosecutors do. They cannot present their own evidence or act as a second prosecution. But they have been given their own time before the judges: 30 minutes for an opening statement, an hour and a half to address the merits, and 30 minutes to close.
Their role, according to the ICC, is to present the victims' "views and concerns" on the charges and the evidence. It is a distinct feature of the ICC unlike its previous trials for other world leaders where victims were included as witnesses for the prosecution.
"It is important for the victims to know and understand that they are not just statistics, not just accomplishment reports," said Kristina Conti, assistant to counsel at the ICC and a lawyer for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a group that has accompanied drug war families since 2017. "The truth as to why they were targeted has to be laid out."
The victims are "aware that the drug war did not start with Duterte alone," Conti said during yesterday's press conference.
"But it was under Duterte that it became a fake 'war on drugs' characterized by intense, widespread killings. Of all the various 'war on drugs' policies, why was it only under Duterte that thousands died?" she said.
What the prosecution will try to prove
Under the ICC's legal framework, Duterte is charged as an "indirect co-perpetrator." This means he is accused of being criminally responsible not for carrying out the killings himself, but for sitting atop a chain of command that prosecutors say ensured default compliance with his orders to kill.
The Document Containing the Charges alleges that Duterte and his co-perpetrators shared a "common plan" to neutralize people perceived to be involved in the drug trade through murder.
How the hearing will proceed
The hearing runs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with Wednesday off, an accommodation ordered by the court following Duterte's medical assessment, which also limited daily sessions to three hours with hourly breaks.
Sessions run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in The Hague, or 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Manila time, and will be livestreamed with a 30-minute delay on the ICC's website and YouTube channel.
The prosecution, led by ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mandiaye Niang and senior trial lawyers, opens on Monday. The victims' lawyers follow. The defense — led by lawyer Nicholas Kaufman — presents its submissions next, before all three sides deliver closing statements on the final day.
'Justice for the Filipino people'
The pre-trial hearing this week, for the lawyers and families who have pursued this case since 2018, is also an effort at preventing a "repeat" of the war on drugs under a different "dictator."
"This is not just about the victims. This is justice for the Filipino people, that this may not be repeated again by any dictator who grabs power in the Philippines," said Neri Colmenares, who also serves as counsel of the victims, said in a televised interview on Monday.
Colmenares pointed to the violence documented in the charges. "Can you imagine the pain of a person who was wrapped in plastic to die? You could have shot the victim, but you wrapped him in plastic?" he said. "And now they are asking for pity for Rodrigo Duterte."
Conti said the hearing should also force a question for the current Philippine government: "The challenge is not just bringing them to the ICC. The challenge is — how will this administration respond, now that this is the established modus operandi, now that this is what happened?"
Escudero, for her part, directed a message at Duterte's supporters. "To those supporting a murderer, please check yourselves," she said. "They will say I am an addict, I am paid, I am all sorts of things. But why would we wish to go here? Why would we wish to just accept all the hate?"
"We hope our fellow Filipino people will wake up. Please hear us. Please stop mocking and ridiculing us."
