April 22, 2026 marks an extraordinary convergence of legal pressure on the Duterte family. Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, each face separate but equally consequential proceedings on the same date — one in the Netherlands, one in the halls of the House of Representatives.
Father at The Hague
At 11:00 a.m. The Hague time — 5:00 p.m. in Manila — the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court will deliver its judgment on the former president’s appeal challenging the court’s jurisdiction over his crimes against humanity case.
Duterte, 81, has been in ICC custody since his arrest on March 11, 2025. He faces three counts of murder for his alleged role as “indirect co-perpetrator” in the extrajudicial killings carried out during his anti-drug campaign — operations that the government tallied at over 6,000 deaths, though human rights groups put the figure at more than 30,000.
The jurisdiction question is central to the defense’s strategy. Duterte’s camp has argued that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC two years before the court authorized its official investigation strips the tribunal of authority over him. The pre-trial chamber rejected this in October 2025, ruling that jurisdiction remains because the alleged crimes were committed while the Philippines was still a member of the Rome Statute. The defense immediately filed an appeal, which the Appeals Chamber will now resolve.
Analysts consider the jurisdiction argument Duterte’s strongest card. The question nearly went his way in 2023, and one of the scholars cited by the dissenting judges in that earlier decision is now on his defense team.
The five-judge panel deciding the matter is not without a track record on this issue. Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia previously ruled in Duterte’s favor in 2023, while Judges Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru and Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda had dissented. Judges Tomoko Akane of Japan and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia are seen as the swing votes.
April 22 also carries a second weight for the former president at the ICC. The pre-trial chamber is separately due to decide whether the crimes against humanity charges will proceed to a full-blown trial — a determination stemming from the February confirmation of charges hearings. The standard at this stage is whether the prosecution has established substantial grounds to believe Duterte masterminded the killings as an indirect co-perpetrator. Should the case move to trial, hearings would not begin immediately, with a possible start toward the end of 2026.
The prosecution charged Duterte for 76 murders and two attempted murders, though it noted that the actual scale of victimization during the charged period was significantly greater, as reflected in the widespread nature of the attack.
Duterte will not be present for either ruling. In a letter dated April 10, he wrote: “I hereby instruct my lawyers to hear the aforementioned judgment in my place.” It is the third time he has asked to skip a major ICC hearing. In February, he also waived his attendance at the four-day confirmation of charges proceedings, maintaining his position that the ICC has no authority over him.
Daughter in Manila
While her father’s legal fate hangs over The Hague, Sara Duterte faces her own accountability proceedings in Quezon City.
April 22 is the third of four scheduled hearings set by the House Committee on Justice on the impeachment complaints against the Vice President. The fourth and final hearing is set for April 29.
The current round of impeachment is a second attempt. Sara was first impeached by the House in February 2025, but the Senate remanded the articles back to the lower house in June 2025. The Supreme Court then declared the impeachment complaint unconstitutional in July 2025, ruling it was barred by the one-year rule — though the court stressed it was not absolving Duterte of the charges. New complaints were filed the moment the constitutional bar lapsed in February 2026.
The hearings took a dramatic turn on April 14, when Ramil Madriaga — the self-confessed former bagman of the Vice President — testified before the House justice committee for the first time, leveling a string of allegations against both Sara and her father.
Sara has not attended any of the hearings. Her lawyer, Atty. Michael Poa, confirmed she would skip the April 14 session, saying she is not mandated to personally appear. She has also moved to stop the proceedings in court. In a 58-page petition, Sara sought a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court to halt the justice committee’s hearings, along with a preliminary injunction against related proceedings. No TRO has been issued, leaving the committee free to proceed as scheduled.
One day, two proceedings
The coincidence of dates is not lost on political observers. For the Duterte family — once the most powerful political force in the country — April 22 places father and daughter simultaneously before accountability processes they have each refused to recognize.
Rodrigo Duterte has consistently refused to acknowledge the ICC’s authority, a stance cited as the key reason he has skipped every major hearing of his case. His daughter has similarly questioned the constitutional validity of the House proceedings, arguing the Senate is the proper forum for an impeachment trial.
