It appeared that the defense team and family of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte are presenting differing accounts of his health as the International Criminal Court (ICC) reviews his continued detention.

In a filing dated Jan. 9 before the ICC, defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman told judges that Duterte’s physical and cognitive condition has seriously deteriorated and warrants reconsideration of his detention.

The defense described Duterte as “an emaciated, infirm and incapacitated shadow of his former self,” adding that “the passage of time has taken a grievous toll” on Duterte’s health.

Kaufman said court-appointed experts agreed Duterte is old, frail, and suffering from “unexplained weight loss” and that he is unable to function daily without constant assistance.

He also argued that Duterte’s cognitive condition “constitutes a new fact that must now be considered” in reviewing whether detention risks still apply.

He likewise claimed that the capacities needed to flee, interfere with witnesses, or commit further crimes are “clearly compromised or, at a minimum, practically unavailable to him in his current condition.”

A day later, however, Duterte’s son, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, offered a different account in an interview with vlogger Alvin & Tourism in the Netherlands.

“Okay naman siya. Kumakain. Medyo tumaba nga (He’s okay. He eats. He’s even gained some weight),” the younger Duterte said.

“Yun lang nga, yung sa legs niya kasi walang exercise, medyo lumiit talaga (It’s just that his legs have gotten thinner because there’s no exercise),” he added.

Rep. Duterte insisted that his father is being taken care of inside the detention facility.

“Pero healthy siya, inaalagaan naman siya ng mga doktor sa loob (But he’s healthy and doctors are taking care of him inside),” he said.

The interview was uploaded to Alvin & Tourism’s Facebook page on Jan. 10, a day after the defense filing was dated.

In the filing, Kaufman rejected suggestions that Duterte is exaggerating his condition, saying “none of the Court-appointed experts conclude that the ‘underperformance’ is deliberate or a result of malingering.”

He also asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to order Duterte’s interim release, noting that an ICC member state has agreed to receive him under strict conditions if released.

The Office of the Prosecutor has opposed earlier defense requests related to detention, maintaining that statutory risk factors remain.

The Pre-Trial Chamber has yet to rule on the Jan. 9 defense filing.

Duterte, arrested in March last year, is facing an ICC case over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign between 2016 and 2019, proceedings that have continued despite the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC in 2019. His earlier requests for interim release had been denied by the Pre-Trial Chamber and upheld on appeal.

In December last year, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said the panel concluded that Duterte, while elderly and frail, remains capable of meaningfully exercising his procedural and fair trial rights.