It’s been one month since former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague in the Netherlands to face the crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection to his administration’s bloody war on drugs campaign.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte at his initial appearance hearing via video link on March 14, 2025, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Also in the photo is his legal counsel, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea. (ICC Photo)
To recall, the former chief executive was arrested on March 11 under an ICC warrant that was issued for the thousands of extrajudicial killings in the name of his drug war campaign. On the same day, he was brought to The Hague via private plane together with former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Vice President Sara Duterte, his daughter, followed him to The Hague the next day to help her father form his legal defense team.
His youngest daughter, Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, and common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña, also arrived in The Hague two days before the former president’s 80th birthday on March 28.
Scores of his Filipino supporters from all over Europe have also trooped outside the Scheveningen Prison to call for Duterte’s release.
Defense team
On March 17, a document made available on the ICC website showed the Appointment of Counsel signed by Duterte for the formal appointment of British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman as the lead counsel of his defense team.
(From left) ICC lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs (Screengrab from ABS-CBN News video, strategic-ilc.com website)
Kaufman accepted the appointment and officially signed the confirmation also on March 17 to represent the former president in the ICC proceedings.
Another foreign lawyer, French international criminal lawyer Dov Jacobs was named associate counsel to Duterte on April 3.
No other names were revealed by either the former president’s family or documents uploaded on the ICC website.
Two Filipino lawyers were also included in the legal team to deal with matters relating to Philippine laws and procedure.
The Vice President, however, did not release their names to the media, but confirmed that former Palace spokesman Harry Roque was not one of the lawyers.
With her task of forming her father’s legal team done, the younger Duterte returned to the Philippines on April 6, as confirmed by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in a statement.
She was the first next-of-kin of the former president who arrived in The Hague and took care of his needs—food, clothing, and legal representation—as her brothers became busy with campaigning for the upcoming midterm elections next month.
Family reunion
The Vice President said she has now a father-daughter relationship with the former president, who was sent in The Hague, and in the process, bridging the gap between them.
Vice President Sara Duterte addresses the overseas Filipino workers, who gathered in The Hague to support her father, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, on March 23, 2025. (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte via Facebook)
“We have that relationship now–a father-daughter relationship since we cannot discuss anything legal anymore… So, we only discussed family, and this has been one of the longest meetings I have had. I have this every day with him, talking about life," the younger Duterte added.
She also seemed to have built a new relationship with younger half-sister Kitty after they visited their father with Avanceña, Kitty’s mother.
“I am blessed because I gained a sister after everything that happened—the attacks, the confidential fund attacks, and the impeachment. And we have a relationship now, I have a relationship with Kitty and I am happy now,” the Vice President said.
She earlier admitted that while the Duterte siblings have no problems with each other, it is their mothers who have their own issues.
Birthday picnics
Outside, supporters of the former president gathered for a birthday picnic, which was attended by the Vice President, Roque, and Senator Robin Padilla, among others.
Duterte supporters from different parts of Europe hold a birthday picnic for the former president on March 28, 2025. (Photo from Pinoy in Holland)
Kitty also had to spend her 21st birthday in The Hague on April 10. Similar with the former president’s 80th birthday, supporters brought their own food and celebrated with Kitty and her mother outside the detention facility.
In the photos, Kitty and Avanceña gamely posed with their family’s supporters.
“I asked him if he was okay. Then he said, ‘No guts, no glory,’” Kitty shared when asked about spending her birthday with her father inside the detention facility.
“So, we are looking forward to come home to explain to the Filipino people what has happened,” she added.
To mark the elder Duterte’s first month in The Hague, his supporters also held a solemn prayer vigil outside the detention facility. Avanceña was seen leading the prayer for her partner, Kitty, and their supporters.
She shared that even the former chief executive had been asking why someone who served the country well is now being persecuted.
“Ang sabi ko, ‘Pareho tayo ng tanong. Actually tinatanong ko ang Panginoon pero alam mo parati naman natatalo ang kadiliman sa kabutihan’ (I said, ‘We have the same question. I am asking the Lord, but you know that goodness will triumph over darkness’),” Avanceña said in a media interview in The Hague.
Senate inquiry
Meanwhile, Avanceña dismissed the Senate hearing on the former president’s arrest headed by Senator Imee Marcos as chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Honeylet Avanceña and her daughter, Kitty Duterte (Photo from Lance Kurt Duterte Facebook page)
“Ano na lng yon, pa-ek-ek na lang ‘yon (That’s just drama),” she said of the presidential sister’s probe.
“Hindi ako naniniwala sa kanya. Nagtanong siya, ano ba talaga nangyari? Hindi nya ba nakita ano nangyari (I don’t believe her. She was asking what happened? Didn’t she see what really happened)?,” Avanceña responded when a Duterte supporter chimed in to say she shouldn’t believe Marcos.
The senator previously admitted that her relationship with her brother has soured because of her criticism of his administration’s policies, particularly the feud with the Dutertes.
She has remained supportive of the Dutertes amid an assassination threat by the Vice President on his own brother, President Marcos, sister-in-law First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez, and even after the Vice President threatened to have Marcos Sr.’s remains exhumed and thrown in the West Philippine Sea.
‘Everything I did was for my country’
Last week, the Vice President shared that her father wants the ICC proceedings against him to move as quickly as possible because he feared he might die while in custody.
“‘Everything I did, I did for my country. (I don't know) whether that statement is acceptable or not, but I want it out to the world’,” the younger Duterte said, relaying her father’s message.
The elder Duterte virtually faced the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber on March 14 to formally hear the charges—43 counts of murder—against him and be informed of his rights under the Rome Statute.
He is expected to appear before the Chamber once more on Sept. 23 for the confirmation of charges.