Supporters insist ex-President Duterte should be tried in PH
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 February) – Days before the confirmation of charges hearing for former President Rodrigo R. Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, his supporters here said he should be released from detention and returned to the country.
In an interview, Loida Espino, a supporter of Duterte, grew emotional at the thought that the 80-year-old former President might remain in detention, given his age and fragile condition.
“Whatever God’s plan is for him, I think we, as Dabawenyos, should just trust,” she said in Cebuano.
As a Davao resident, the 50-year-old mother of three said she had witnessed how the former leader worked as mayor before being elected as President in 2016.
She asked what his political opponents will stand to gain from imprisoning Duterte.
“If we say Duterte has done something wrong, we also have to acknowledge that he has accomplished a lot for us here,” she said.
Espino said her children, aged 26, 15, and 8, all suffer from heart conditions and receive medical support from the local government for their hospitalization.
John Michael Gumobao, 31, a resident of Barangay 76-A Bucana, said Duterte should not be detained at the ICC.
He said Davao became more organized, cleaner, and safer from crime under his leadership.
He said Duterte addressed the illegal drug problem during his time as President.
Makmak Razonable, 30, said he disagreed with Duterte’s arrest and detention by the ICC.
He said that if Duterte was indeed involved in extrajudicial killings, the former President should face trial in the country, not before the ICC.
“The hearing should be done here in the Philippines because Digong is already old. If it is proven that he has done something wrong, he can be placed under house arrest rather than being taken out of the country,” he said.
Duterte waived his right to attend the confirmation of charges hearing, which is set to begin on February 23 and will continue until 27.
It is during the confirmation of charges hearing that the tribunal will determine “whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged,” according to the ICC.
“I do not wish to attend legal proceedings that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me,” Duterte wrote in a letter dated February 16, bearing the address of the ICC Detention Centre.
He said that he had already accepted the fact that he could die in prison.
He said that those who “desire this fate for me should know that my heart and soul will always remain in the Philippines.”
The former President was arrested on March 11, 2025, upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong, and shipped out of the Philippines on the same day to the ICC.
The international tribunal has charged Duterte with three counts of murder as crimes against humanity and accused him of being an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the extrajudicial killings in connection with his bloody campaign against illegal drugs that allegedly took place between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, during his tenure as mayor of Davao City and later as President of the Philippines.
Duterte said he understood the consequences of waiving his right to appear in the confirmation proceedings, as explained by his legal team.
“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,” he wrote.
Duterte cited, among others, the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction over his person for his decision not to appear in the proceedings.
“I am a Filipino citizen forcibly pushed into a jet and renditioned to The Hague in the Netherlands in flagrant contravention of my country’s Constitution and of national sovereignty. My kidnapping was facilitated by the office of the incumbent President of the Philippines (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) with a plane specially chartered for this purpose,” he said.
He also denied overseeing the EJKs, dismissing the accusations as an “outrageous lie.”
He claimed the allegations were spread by his political opponents “based on word of individuals whose credibility has been thoroughly discredited.”
“I am proud of my legacy and of my service to my countrymen around the world. Let no one doubt my love for and loyalty to the Filipino nation,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
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