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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
December 20, 2025 | 12:00am
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen on a screen with his lawyer Salvador Medialdea (L) in the courtroom during his first appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly crackdown on narcotics, in The Hague on March 14, 2025.
AFP / Peter Dejong, pool
MANILA, Philippines — The independent panel of medical experts appointed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to examine former president Rodrigo Duterte has found him fit to participate in pre-trial proceedings, including the postponed confirmation of charges hearings, court filings showed.
Although they had different interpretations of the findings, both the ICC prosecutor and Duterte’s lawyers have confirmed that the panel found Duterte “competent for the purpose of the pre-trial proceedings.”
In his nine-page observation released on Thursday, ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang urged the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to conclude that Duterte is “capable of meaningfully exercising his procedural and fair trial rights, and that he is fit to participate in the pre-trial proceedings, including the confirmation hearing.”
“Upon completion of their assessments, panel members individually reached the same overall conclusion that, while frail and elderly, Mr. Duterte nevertheless possesses the necessary capacities to meaningfully exercise his procedural and fair trial rights,” wrote Niang.
He also called for the resumption of the proceedings on the confirmation of charges against the former president.
But Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman maintained that while the former president is “capable of drawing on his personal long-term memory,” his short-term memory is already impacted and that “he cannot retain information for more than a short space of time.”
He challenged the panel’s findings and said the means by which each member reached their conclusions were in “conflict with those of the others.”
“Such internal inconsistencies undermine the overall weight of the general joint conclusion on fitness. Before rendering a decision on the matter, the Pre-Trial Chamber must seek further clarification,” Kaufman said in his 12-page observation.
Kaufman requested for an “evidentiary hearing” to allow parties to clarify the conclusions of the experts. — Jose Rodel Clapano
