Daily Tribune
The International Criminal Court (ICC) officially opened on Monday the high-stakes pre-trial hearing in the crimes against humanity case of former president Rodrigo Duterte, the first Asian former leader to be indicted for murder over alleged summary killings carried out across the Philippines during his tenure as president and as Davao mayor.
The prosecution team presented its evidence in Duterte’s absence, as he waived his right to attend and vowed not to appear in person during the proceedings. He is represented by his counsels, Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs.
Duterte, 80, is charged with three counts of murder for the killings of 78 individuals, including six children, allegedly suspected of involvement in drug activities from 2013 to 2018, spanning his tenure as Davao mayor and president.
The actual death toll of Duterte’s war on drugs has been estimated at as many as 30,000 by rights groups, mostly from poor communities. The figures cover only his tenure as the country’s chief executive.
The alleged murder of 19 victims, including three children, under count one was carried out between 2013 and 2016 by members of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS)—a notorious group allegedly composed of Davao-based police officers and hired gunmen—while Duterte was serving as city mayor.
Duterte is also accused under count two of being responsible for the killings of 14 “high-value targets,” carried out between July 2016 and 2017 through a “national network” while he was in office as president.
The third count records the highest number of alleged killings at 45. Of these, 43 were classified as murders, while two were attempted murders involving alleged drug suspects, including three children.
These cases were also recorded during Duterte’s tenure as president and were carried out by members of the “national network” during barangay clearance operations between July 2016 and September 2018.
Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said the number of killings covered by the charges is merely “a fraction of the overall criminality” that resulted from Duterte’s war on drugs.
“These murders and attempted murders were part of a widespread and systematic attack that resulted in the killings of thousands of civilians across the country during the relevant time frame,” Niang said.
The lead prosecutor argued that Duterte played a pivotal role in the commission of the crimes by ordering police to “neutralize” individuals associated with drugs. He accused Duterte of providing DDS members with monetary rewards on top of their regular salaries in exchange for killing suspected criminals and drug dealers in Davao.
This scheme, he added, was initially carried out in Davao and later expanded nationwide when Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016.
Aside from cash rewards, Duterte was also accused of equipping DDS members with weapons, ammunition, and logistical support to facilitate the commission of the crimes.
“The victims of the extrajudicial killings charged in this case were brutally murdered, some after having been abducted and mistreated. Unlike Mr. Duterte, who is represented by counsel here today, they were deprived of any form of due process,” Niang lamented.
Niang cited several public statements and interviews in which the former president explicitly vowed to eradicate criminality and illegal drugs within three to six months if elected president.
“If I become president, you will all get wiped out. I will order your execution within 24 hours,” Niang said, quoting a 2015 televised interview of Duterte.
“Direct perpetrators were further emboldened to commit crimes by Mr. Duterte’s repeated promises of immunity,” Niang added.
Another striking example of Duterte’s alleged involvement in the extrajudicial killings, Niang pointed out, was the sharp decline in killings after he ordered a suspension of the anti-drug campaign following public outcry.
The prosecutor said the charges brought against the former president are “serious” and that Duterte should be held accountable. He added that the evidence is strong enough to confirm the charges and proceed to trial.
Duterte had repeatedly dared the ICC to arrest him prior to his arrest at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11 over three counts of murder as crimes against humanity. This was despite his continued rejection of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines following its withdrawal from the Rome Statute—the tribunal’s founding treaty—in March 2019 upon his orders.
Victims’ counsel Joel Butuyan warned that if the charges against Duterte are not confirmed, he could pose a threat to the families of drug war victims.
“Mr. Duterte will return home as a conquering hero. If Mr. Duterte can threaten to slap the judges of the ICC, imagine what he is capable of doing to the witnesses in the Philippines,” Butuyan said during the proceedings.
Duterte’s lead legal counsel told the court that the former president “maintains his innocence absolutely.”
Kaufman said the scourge of illegal narcotics in the Philippines has long plagued the country, which serves as a transit hub for trafficking from China.
“With or without Duterte, so we argue, the death toll would have kept rising. Indeed, as we will prove with statistics and reports, deaths related to narcotics-related crime actually increased after Duterte left power,” he argued.
Disputing the prosecution’s arguments, Kaufman contended that the evidence against Duterte was “wholly insufficient,” and that the prosecution “cherry-picked” excerpts from his speeches, most of which, he said, showed no “lethal intent.”
He also dismissed the charges as “grievously misplaced and politically motivated.”
Kaufman also criticized Duterte’s successor, Bongbong Marcos, for facilitating his client’s arrest, saying it contradicted his earlier pronouncements.
Duterte’s camp has long claimed that his turnover to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, was unlawful and amounted to “kidnapping,” allegedly facilitated by the Marcos administration.
