Tapping that DDS mystique

Tapping that DDS mystique | Daily Tribune

The International Criminal Court (ICC), a world body scrounging for validation amid a credibility crisis, has reissued a July 2025 document on the charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, filling in some of the blanks and calling it a “Public Lesser Redacted Version of the ‘Document Containing the Charges.’”

Names were added — Duterte appointees and close aides who assumed their posts by virtue of the former president’s prerogative.

Among those on the list were Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go, the former Philippine National Police chief and the former special assistant and chief of the Presidential Managerial Staff, respectively; former Manila Police District director Vicente Danao; former National Capital Region Police Office director Camilo Cascolan; retired PNP chief Oscar Albayalde; former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran; former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña; former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and unnamed “other members of the PNP and high-ranking government officials.”

The last category was apparently included to keep the guessing game going and to provide ammunition for the anti-Duterte forces.

By means of their authority, the “co-perpetrators” supposedly controlled a power structure that enabled them to control those who executed the deadly methods of the war on drugs, both during Duterte’s term as Davao City mayor and as president of the Republic.

The personalities were mostly implicated based on their proximity to Duterte and evidence drawn from procedural, substantive and political angles.

Those implicated will likely invoke the same argument of Duterte that the ICC lost its jurisdiction after the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019.

While the tribunal has ruled that it retained authority over crimes committed during the period the Philippines was a party — from November 2011 to March 2019 — the decision may also be appealed based on individual circumstances.

The complementarity principle under Article 17 of the Rome Statute — which states that the ICC only steps in if national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute — will also be a point of contention.

Since local courts and the House of Representatives are conducting ongoing investigations into the drug war killings, domestic systems are clearly handling the matter, mirroring President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s stance of non-cooperation with the ICC and emphasizing the country’s sovereign judicial competence.

Senator Go, challenging the ICC’s interference, stated in March 2025 that “Filipinos should be judged by fellow Filipinos.”

Most of the individuals named in the ICC document appear to have been included through guilt by association, since an appointment by Duterte doesn’t equate to criminal complicity.

Go’s focus on non-violent initiatives, such as health programs through the Malasakit Centers, which he championed, have distanced him from the alleged violence, contradicting the ICC narrative.

The ICC’s concept of due process, which relies heavily on biased witnesses such as former DDS members who testified under duress or on promises of incentives, and those fed to the tribunal’s investigators by anti-Duterte prime movers, made the list questionable.

Suspicions of political bias are rife since the reissuing of the document came at a critical juncture for the administration of President Marcos — just when the President himself is being accused of benefiting from kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects.

Go, having topped the 2025 senatorial race, lends credence to allegations of pressure being applied on the moribund ICC.

Implicating Duterte’s allies adds a deeper partisan edge to the ICC confirmation hearing set for 23 February, a dynamic that could prove consequential in the run-up to the 2028 polls.