Families of victims of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs hailed as a “vindication” on Wednesday the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber’s refusal to throw out the crimes against humanity case against him.

Duterte has been held by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague since March 2025 over killings linked to his anti-drugs campaign while he was in office.

His lawyers argued that the court had no authority to try him because the Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, in 2019.

But the judges said the court could still hear the case because its inquiry began before the withdrawal took effect.

“We welcome today’s decision as a serious and meaningful step forward [for] justice and healing,” Catholic priest Flavie Villanueva, founder and president of Programme Paghilom (Healing), said shortly after the chamber announced its decision.

“We stand in solidarity with the families who, for years, have carried the weight of loss, fear, and unanswered grief. Their quiet cry – ‘tama na po’ [enough] – continues to echo, and it calls all of us to conscience.”