Camille Naredo

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte makes his initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court on March 14, 2025. Handout/ICC

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").

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Initial appearance of Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte

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/175870892876620250314-duterte-pre-trial-chamber-ICC-2 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte makes his initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court on March 14, 2025. Handout/ICC"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte makes his initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court on March 14, 2025. <em>Handout/ICC</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said visiting Filipinos detained abroad is a duty of all Philippine Foreign Service Posts.</p><p>This, after Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that Philippine officials visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for what she said was a &quot;sham welfare check&quot; in his detention facility at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.</p><p>In a statement, DFA said officials from the Philippine Embassy in The Hague indeed visited the former Philippine president &quot;to conduct a welfare check&quot;, which is in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and relevant Philippine laws.</p><p>&quot;Officials from the Philippine Embassy in the Hague visited former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Detention Center of the International Criminal Court to conduct a welfare check.  This is in line with its functions under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and relevant Philippine laws  to protect the welfare of all Filipinos,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;This is a duty of all Philippine Foreign Service Posts and is no different from what the DFA does for other Filipino citizens who are in detention abroad,&quot; the DFA added.</p><p>The younger Duterte, in a Facebook post, 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-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/24/vp-sara-slam-ph-officials-for-sham-welfare-check-on-dad-rodrigo-duterte-1251">READ: &#x27;FPRRD does not need you&#x27;: VP Sara slams PH officials for &#x27;sham welfare check&#x27; on dad Rodrigo Duterte</a></div><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><p>Duterte&#x27;s lawyers had previously urged to suspend the former Philippine leader&#x27;s confirmation hearing, claiming that he is not fit to stand trial.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DUTERTE ALLIES SUPPORT VP SARA&#x27;S CLAIMS</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the Senate joined Vice President Sara Duterte in slamming the supposedly &quot;sham&quot; welfare checks of the Philippine Embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands on the former leader while in detention by the International Criminal Court.</p><p>They also urged the Senate to advocate for the Philippine government to advocate for the interim release of the former leader.</p><p>&quot;Welfare, Mr. President? Checked by the very same ones who caused the former Philippine President, quite possibly the most well-loved Philippine President, to suffer in foreign jurisdiction? Anong klaseng welfare kaya ang kanilang sinisiguro, at kaninong welfare? &quot; Senator Ronald dela Rosa said in a privileged speech at the Senate this afternoon. </p><p>&quot;Bold of them to assume that they are in any position to look into his well-being, when in the very first place, securing his well-being should have meant utmost respect for his person, as well as refusal to surrender him to a foreign court. Not because he was the 16th President of the Republic, but perhaps more importantly, because he is a Filipino.&quot;</p><p>Senator Robinhood Padilla, meanwhile, drew parallels between the plights of Duterte and President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. who was exiled in the United States after the 1986 People Power Revolution. Senator Rodante Marcoleta called out the International Criminal Court for even allowing the visit.</p><p>Dela Rosa, Go, Padilla and Marcoleta urged the Senate to take up the resolution asking that the Senate advocate for the former leader&#x27;s interim release.</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><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">READ: Prosecutors charge Duterte with 3 counts of murder &#x27;as crime against humanity&#x27; at ICC</a></div><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 RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Following claims by Vice President Sara Duterte, the Department of Foreign Affairs clarified that visiting Filipinos detained abroad is a duty of all Philippine Foreign Service Posts.</p>

Following claims by Vice President Sara Duterte, the Department of Foreign Affairs clarified that visiting Filipinos detained abroad is a duty of all Philippine Foreign Service Posts.

Welfare check on Duterte in ICC part of duty of foreign service posts: DFA

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Welfare check on Duterte in ICC part of duty of foreign service posts: DFA

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 24, 2025 06:23 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 24, 2025 06:43 PM PHT

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Sara Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte

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