SCHEVENINGEN, The Hague — Supporters of detained former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s announcement that the former Philippine leader, accused of crimes against humanity, may now file for' interim release'.

This followed after the ICC proclaimed that it has scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing for Duterte on September 23, 2025.

ICC presiding judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc from Romania announced the developments during Duterte’s pretrial at The Hague on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Motoc told Duterte that “at the confirmation of charges hearing (he) can contest the charges, challenge the evidence provided by the prosecutor and present evidence.”

The former president’s legal team, led by his former spokesperson Atty. Herminio 'Harry' Roque Jr., will be pushing for Duterte’s temporary release from the ICC's detention facility in Scheveningen since there is no reason to detain him with his confirmation hearing scheduled six months from now.

Duterte’s longtime friend and his former executive secretary, Salvador Medialdea, brought up the former president’s “debilitating medical issues” and that he was “hard of hearing” and “poor of sight.”

Motoc, however, replied that “the court has taken specific measures with regards to (Duterte's) health situation . . . and subsequent to his arrest and when he arrived at the detention center, the court’s doctor was of the opinion that he was fully mentally aware and fit.”

Under the Rome Statute, the 79-year-old Duterte can now apply for an interim release pending trial. He will expectedly raise his health in his application but whatever grounds he’ll raise, judges will not approve it if they believe that releasing Duterte will risk an escape, risk obstructing or endangering the investigation and risk recommitting the crimes he is accused of.

The ICC has not yet granted an interim release to a suspect charged with crimes against humanity but it has granted the same to suspects charged with obstruction of justice.

Meanwhile, lawyers of the victims in Duterte’s bloody drug war explicitly expressed that the ICC should not grant the former president interim release because the victims believe he is a flight risk—he is running for mayor of Davao City—and a threat to the safety of witnesses and evidence."

Interim release allows an accused of temporary liberty pending trial and under certain conditions such territorial limit among others. The request must be made in writing and must be decided upon by the pre-trial chamber without delay.

National Union of Peoples' Lawyers' (NUPL) Neri Colmenares and ICC-registered counsel Kristina Conti, who is expected to represent the families of EJK victims before the ICC, both enthused that "(although) interim release pending trial is a right of the accused . . . Duterte should not be 'entitled' to such, as the former strongman is even luckier to have the opportunity to face court, unlike his alleged victims who were simply gunned down and deprived of thechance to defend themselves."