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Former President Rodrigo Duterte's initial appearance before the ICC on March 14, 2025. Handout

Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s initial appearance took place on Friday, 14 March 2025, at 14:00 hours (The Hague local time), before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "Court").

Article (news)

Initial appearance of Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte

Job Manahan

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175868269891420250314-duterte-pre-trial-chamber-ICC.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s initial appearance before the ICC on March 14, 2025. <em>Handout</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday claimed that Philippine officials visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for a &quot;sham welfare check&quot; in his detention facility at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.</p><p>In a statement posted on her Facebook page, the Vice President said the visit by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague happened without permission from her family.</p><p>“I have received disturbing information from Malacañang that a report about Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague,” said the younger Duterte.</p><p>“The officials entered the detention unit under the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check; and interviewed FPRRD. The said officials clearly abused the rule of the detention unit concerning consular visits,” she added.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/23/icc-office-of-the-prosecutor-releases-details-of-charges-vs-duterte-0057">Prosecutors charge Duterte with 3 counts of murder &#x27;as crime against humanity&#x27; at ICC</a></div><p>The Vice President also criticized the ICC for allowing Philippine officials to visit her father without family permission, saying this “places his life and safety in imminent danger.”</p><p>She said if the welfare check continues, the ICC and the Philippine government should be responsible for anything that could happen to her 80-year-old father.</p><p>“The ICC and the Philippine Government must be prepared to answer, fully and directly, for any harm that comes to former President Rodrigo Duterte,” she said.</p><p>“Should the worst happen, his death in custody as a direct result of these intrusions, the false pretense of conducting a ‘welfare check.’ These are nothing but orders of President Marcos disguised as consular functions, and we strongly object to such visits. FPRRD does not need you, our family will take care of him,” she added.</p><p>The former president&#x27;s defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said he was &quot;fully aware of this matter.&quot; &quot;Previous visits by consulate officials have been coordinated through the Defence yet this visit was not,&quot; said Kaufman.</p><p>&quot;Of more concern, however, is the fact that this visit came in the immediate aftermath of the publication of the Defence request for an indefinite adjournment and was, without a shadow of a doubt, calculated to obtain intelligence concerning the former President’s medical condition,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;The Defence is still obtaining information and considering the appropriate legal avenue to address this gross invasion of privacy and attempt to subvert the legal process by exploiting a detainee’s medical infirmity.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>PALACE MUM ON WELFARE CHECK, REJECTS SARA&#x27;S OTHER ACCUSATION</strong></div><p>The Vice President also said the current administration has not done any welfare checks to overseas Filipino workers who were supposedly detained and neglected – a statement denounced by Malacanang during Wednesday&#x27;s briefing.</p><p>“‘Yan po ay malaking kasinungalingan,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said said.</p><p>“Lahat ng humihingi ng tulong sa kanila ay 100 percent nilang natutugunan at may record sila,” she said, citing information from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).</p><p>Castro said the Palace was leaving the issue to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for comment.</p><p>The DFA later said that the welfare check on Duterte is &quot;in line with its functions under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and relevant Philippine laws  to protect the welfare of all Filipinos.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/24/welfare-check-on-duterte-in-icc-part-of-duty-of-foreign-service-posts-dfa-1823">Welfare check on Duterte in ICC part of duty of foreign service posts: DFA</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/duterte-camp-finds-host-country-for-possible-interim-release-vp-sara-1339">One country agreed to host ex-President Duterte for interim release: VP Sara</a></div><p>Meanwhile, the ICC said it “cannot comment on matters related to [the] private situation of a detained person.”</p><p>But the ICC said it “acts in accordance with the ICC Rome Statute and relevant applicable rules and follows the international standards of detained persons having access to consular representatives.”</p><p>“Such visits, if any, are strictly conducted with the approval or at the request of the person in detention,” it said.</p><p>Duterte’s lawyers earlier urged the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber to suspend the Davaoeño politician’s confirmation hearing, claiming that the former president was not fit to stand trial.</p><p>ICC prosecutors have charged former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his &quot;war on drugs.&quot;</p><p>Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC&#x27;s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since.</p><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qXBleBgGKkA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday claimed that Philippine officials visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for a "sham welfare check" while inside his detention facility at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.</p>

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday claimed that Philippine officials visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for a "sham welfare check" while inside his detention facility at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

'FPRRD does not need you': VP Sara slams PH officials for 'sham welfare check' on dad Rodrigo Duterte

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'FPRRD does not need you': VP Sara slams PH officials for 'sham welfare check' on dad Rodrigo Duterte

Job Manahan,

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 24, 2025 12:51 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 24, 2025 06:40 PM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

International Criminal Court

The Hague

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