Only Phone Calls Allowed for Duterte Family While Confirmation of Charges is Ongoing
DUTERTE FAMILY – Amid the confirmation of charges, there are no approved visits for the kin of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
After the International Criminal Court or ICC ruled that former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is fit to stand the pre-trial proceedings based on the assessment of the medical experts who were appointed to check on him, the foreign court released a new schedule for the confirmation of charges against the former President.
Duterte is detained  at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands since March 2025. The ICC previously revealed that the prosecution has filed three (3) counts of murder as alleged “crimes against humanity” against the former President.
The confirmation of charges against the former President was initially set on September 23, 2025. However, the lawyer of the former President, Nicholas Kaufman, claimed then that his client is allegedly not fit to stand trial.
According to Kaufman, Duterte could allegedly hardly remember places, events, and even close members of his family as he is supposedly suffering from a cognitive impairment. The claim of the British-Israeli Lawyer prompted the court to postpone the confirmation of charges and have the former President checked.
Amid the detention of their patriarch, the Duterte family members are taking turns in visiting former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte inside the ICC detention facility in The Hague. The ICC previously denied the interim release appeal of former Pres. Duterte, too.
The Duterte family claimed that they accept the ICC ruling on the interim release plea of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte “with open hearts”. Today is the first day of the confirmation of charges against the former President.
Based on a report on PhilStar, while the confirmation of charges against former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is ongoing, no any in-person visit by the Duterte family is allowed. The confirmation of charges is set to last until February 27.
Meanwhile, based on the report, telephone calls are allowed by the foreign court. The former President has waived his right to personally appear before the court. According to him, he refuses the jurisdiction of the ICC over him and he is old and frail already. Through a letter to the foreign court, he claimed that he has accepted that he might die in prison.
Previously, after the series of rulings released by the ICC that were not in favor of their camp, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that the ICC will allegedly really imprison former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte based on their actions.