He’s 80 years old now. Rodrigo Duterte, the man who once ruled the Philippines with an iron fist and a vocabulary that made diplomats cringe, is currently sitting in a cell in the Netherlands. Specifically, the Scheveningen prison complex in The Hague. It’s a long way from Davao.
If you’re looking for duterte news today latest, the big headline right now is coming straight from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Just yesterday, January 16, 2026, Duterte’s lead defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, went on the offensive. He’s pretty steamed about a new "witness appeal" microsite the ICC launched. Basically, the court is calling for more people—especially former and active Philippine National Police (PNP) officers—to come forward and testify about what really happened during those drug war years.
Kaufman calls it a breach of neutrality. He says it’s basically the court helping the prosecution hunt for evidence they should have already had. But the court isn't backing down.
Why January 2026 is a "Make or Break" Month
Honestly, the stakes haven't been this high since his arrest back in March 2025. We are currently waiting for a massive ruling on whether Duterte is even "fit to stand trial."
His lawyers have been arguing for months that he’s suffering from severe cognitive decline. They claim he can’t remember names, places, or even family members. It sounds tragic, but the ICC’s medical panel isn't entirely buying it. In late December, they submitted a report suggesting he can participate in pre-trial proceedings. We expect the final word on his mental fitness any day now. If the judges agree with the medical panel, the trial moves into the "confirmation of charges" phase.
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If they side with his defense? Everything stops. It’s a legal cliffhanger that has the entire Philippines holding its breath.
The Drama Back Home: Sara, Imee, and the Marcos Rift
While Rodrigo is in a cell, the "UniTeam" alliance that won the 2022 election has basically turned into a circular firing squad. You’ve probably heard the rumors, but the reality is even messier.
Vice President Sara Duterte is facing a wall of pressure in Manila. She survived an impeachment attempt in 2025, but the calls for her removal haven't disappeared. They’ve just changed shape. There are now allegations floating around about "ghost" flood control projects and misuse of confidential funds.
Then you have Senator Imee Marcos. This is the wild part—she’s actually been siding with the Dutertes against her own brother, President Bongbong Marcos. It’s like a real-life Succession but with more Barong Tagalogs and higher stakes for 114 million people.
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The Midterm Aftermath
Most people expected the Duterte influence to crater after the patriarch was sent to The Hague. They were wrong. The May 2025 midterms were a massive "told you so" from the Duterte base.
- Duterte won the Davao mayoralty in absentia. People literally voted for a man in a Dutch prison to lead their city.
- Senate wins: Duterte allies took a huge chunk of the 12 seats up for grabs, stripping Marcos of his supermajority.
- Public Opinion: After the arrest, Marcos’s approval ratings actually tanked, falling to around 25% in some surveys. Filipinos love an underdog, even if that underdog is a former president facing crimes against humanity charges.
What’s Actually Happening in The Hague?
It’s not just about "the drug war" in a general sense anymore. The ICC is looking at very specific numbers and events.
We’re talking about 5,051 items of documentary evidence already disclosed to the defense. The prosecution is focusing on three counts of murder as a crime against humanity. They’ve narrowed it down to the deaths of at least 49 specific individuals, though human rights groups claim the total count from 2011 to 2019 is closer to 30,000.
The defense strategy is simple: delay, delay, delay. They challenged the court’s jurisdiction (denied). They asked for interim release on health grounds (denied). Now, they are fighting the disclosure of medical communications.
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What Most People Get Wrong
There’s a common misconception that the Philippines leaving the ICC in 2019 meant the court lost its power. Not true. The ICC judges ruled back in October 2025 that because the crimes allegedly started while the country was a member, they still have the "legal receipts."
Also, don't assume the Marcos administration is 100% behind the ICC. While they allowed the arrest to happen—mostly by not stopping the ICC agents at the airport—they’ve been very careful to say they "respect the process" rather than "support the prosecution." It’s a tightrope walk. Marcos needs the Duterte base to pass laws, but he needs the Dutertes out of the way for the 2028 elections.
Actionable Insights: What to Watch For Next
If you’re following this story, don't just look at the headlines. Watch these three specific things:
- The Fitness Ruling: If the court rules Duterte is fit, expect the first public hearings to be televised globally. It will be the most-watched event in Philippine history.
- The "Cops" Testimony: Watch if any high-ranking PNP officers actually use the new ICC microsite to submit evidence. If the "blue wall of silence" breaks, the case is over for Duterte.
- The 2028 Maneuvers: Every move Sara Duterte makes right now is about 2028. If she manages to distance herself from her father’s legal woes while keeping his voters, she remains the frontrunner for the presidency.
The era of "Dutertismo" didn't end with a whimper or a quiet retirement. It’s ending in a high-security courtroom with a mountain of paperwork and a country more divided than ever. Whether you see him as a hero who cleaned up the streets or a criminal who bypassed the law, one thing is certain: the next few weeks in The Hague will change the Philippines forever.
To stay updated, monitor the official ICC case page for "The Situation in the Republic of the Philippines" and keep an eye on the House Quad Committee transcripts, as they often leak the evidence that eventually ends up in the Hague.