ICC authorizes 500 victims to participate in Duterte crimes against humanity case

The International Criminal Court has allowed the participation of 500 applicants as victims in the crimes against humanity charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague.

In a five-page decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber 1, the tribunal said that it concurred with the Victims Participation and Reparation Section's findings in its assessment of 227 applications for the 500 individuals.

"The Chamber, not having identified any clear, material error in this VPRS’s assessment, and recalling its flexible approach with regard to any minor discrepancies within victim applications, concurs with the VPRS’s assessment and decides to authorize the 500 Group A applicants to participate as victims in the present proceedings," the chamber said.

It added that the Common Legal Representative for Victims, appointed to represent ‘any admitted victims in the present case’, shall also represent the victims admitted in this decision.

The ICC pre-trial chamber on Duterte's case, days before, received from its Registry additional applications from parties seeking to be registered as victims in the Duterte case.

In a four-page document dated February 9, the ICC Registry said it has transmitted to the Chamber 227 applications comprising 500 applicants.

On January 28, 2026, the Chamber ordered the Victims Participation and Reparations Section of the Registry to transmit not later than February 9, 2026, any additional applications received within the initial deadline.

Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity for murder and attempted murder before the ICC in connection with the thousands of deaths under his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and President of the Philippines.

The ICC chamber on Friday in another ruling, denied the request of Duterte's defense to challenge its ruling deeming him fit to face prosecution for crimes against humanity.

In its request, the defense argued the Pre-Trial Chamber I "erred in fact and in law" by ignoring relevant clinical evidence on Duterte’s lack of fitness to stand trial and rejecting the request to hold a hearing on the matter.

The defense also accused the chamber of failing to articulate coherently its decision to proceed with the confirmation proceedings, limiting its assessment of the former president's fitness to the pre-trial phase, and failing to consider the impact of its finding on Duterte’s ability to stand trial.

However, the three-person chamber said the panel of experts took into consideration the reports provided by the defense when assessing Duterte's health condition. It also said the defense's arguments in relation to Duterte's "memory impairment" were addressed in its January 26 ruling. –NB, GMA Integrated News