The International Criminal Court (ICC) formally presented the charges filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte during his first appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber I in The Hague on Friday.

The court officer read the charges against Duterte who appeared in the hearing via video link, as authorized by the Chamber.

Duterte's charges include "murder of at least 19 persons, allegedly drug pushers or thieves, killed by members of the Davao Death Squad in various locations in or around Davao City, Philippines, between 2011 and 2016" and the "murder of at least 24 persons, allegedly criminals such as drug pushers or thieves or drug users, killed by or under the supervision of members of the Philippines law enforcement, sometimes with the assistance of persons who were not part of the police at various locations in the Philippines, between 2016 and 2019."

ICC Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc announced that the next hearing on the confirmation of charges against Duterte is scheduled to begin on September 23, 2025.

She also said that the motions filed by Duterte to postpone the hearing have not been accepted by the chamber noting that it only "aims to introduce the parties and to ascertain the charges and to set a date for the confirmation of charges hearing at a later stage."

Former Executive Secretary Solvador Medialdea, a counsel for Duterte, explained during the hearing that he requests to postpone the substantive aspect of hearing to the next week, for him to have "the opportunity to sit with my client and to explain to him what a confirmation hearing is and what the disclosure is and how the prosecution alleges that he committed crimes."

"Only this morning have I met him for the first time, with less than an hour to discuss legal issues, I have not been able to present him with a hard copy of the arrest warrant because we were not supplied with such. I have not even been able to explain to him what the prosecution requested when seeking the issuance of the arrest warrant," he said.

"This is because the chamber only established a reductive version of the prosecution request last night, other than to identify himself, my client is not able to contribute anything to this hearing," he added.

In his manifestation, Medialdea described the delivery of Duterte to ICC as "pure and simple kidnapping".

"Two days ago, the whole world has witnessed the degrading fashion in which a former president of a sovereign country was bundled into a private aircraft and summarily transported to the Hague to ask lawyers this would be called an extrajudicial rendition to the less legally inclined," he said,

"My client was denied all access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship. And this all in the nature of political score, settling two troubled entities struck an unlikely alliance an incumbent president who wished to neutralize and choke the legacy of my client and his daughter, on the other hand, and a troubled legal institution subject to the legitimization and desperate for a fright price cuts and a legal show today, on the Other hand. With this in mind, it is not surprising that my client was abducted from his country," he added.

Medialdea also invited the registry representative "to explain to the judges exactly how they believe this transfer was anything other than a gross abuse of process given the precipitous arrival" of Duterte.

"ICC, private jets do not drop out of thin air, that jet which received my client was coordinated in advance. The UAE is not a State party to the ICC and has no obligation to cooperate with the court, yet my client sat in transit in that country for more than five hours," he said.

Palace Press Officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro call the first appearance of Duterte before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) a "fair trial".

“Witnessing the first appearance attended by former President Duterte before the ICC, everybody could see how justice starts to roll down,” she said.

"The judge even emphasized that the Court's doctor gave the opinion that former President Duterte is fully mentally aware and fit and that he had undergone further checks and tests at the detention facility,” she added.

Duterte's initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC which started around 9 pm (Philippine time) only lasted in less than 30 minutes. Robina Asido/DMS