Digong's camp petitions ICC: Drop two witnesses from prosecution's list
Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s camp has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop two unnamed individuals from the prosecution’s roster of witnesses, who will establish the existence and implementation of the alleged state policy of killing suspected criminals under the drug war, as well as Senator Bato dela Rosa’s role in the operations.
ICC records do not explicitly link the witnesses—identified only as P-1334 and P-1348—to law enforcement groups.
However, in a heavily redacted filing released on 9 November, defense lead counsel Peter Haynes said they were absent from the service covered by the charges and could offer little direct information on how decisions were made or how police operations were carried out during Duterte's presidency.
“Despite being members of the [REDACTED] and the [REDACTED] respectively, P-1334 and P-1348 were both absent for almost the entire period charged under Counts 2 and 3,” the submission reads.
Counts 2 and 3 involve murders of “high-value targets” (HVT) and in barangay clearance operations, both during Duterte’s presidential period.
Acting Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang urged the court to admit the pre-recorded testimonies of P-1334 and P-1348 as evidence in lieu of their in-court appearances.
He said P-1334 will describe the organizations’ structure and operations, including Dela Rosa’s alleged role in communicating instructions from higher-ups to “terminate” individuals during the anti-drug campaign.
Additionally, P-1334 will also testify about meetings concerning target lists and killings, particularly Incidents 13 and 53, and Dela Rosa’s contribution to the common plan.
Incident 13 relates to the deaths of former Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa and drug suspect Raul Yap. They were killed in an alleged shootout inside their cells on 5 November 2016, and both were identified as HVT and “drug lords” on the “PRRD” (Duterte’s initials) list.
Meanwhile, Incident 53 took place in CALABARZON and involved two “drug pushers” who were shot and killed by members of AIDG (Anti-Illegal Drugs Group).
Haynes, however, disputed that P-1334 had personal knowledge of how Duterte allegedly sent instructions to the Philippine National Police, through its former chief, Dela Rosa.
'Nanlaban narrative'
“She never saw Dela Rosa do anything of the sort, and recognized that her account is based on stories she had heard,” the British barrister argued.
Her assertion about alleged police quotas was just an “assumption,” and her knowledge about the supposed killings, including Incidents 13 and 53, was also “limited,” with parts of her account coming “entirely from newspapers” or “people talking,” Haynes said.
As for P-1348, the defense contended that her testimony also “lack[s] probative value,” saying her account is similarly based on “conjecture” and “hearsay” as it was allegedly heavily influenced by news reports concerning the “nanlaban” narrative.
“This is not surprising, given her inability to offer any direct information on matters of significance to the case. For example, P-1348 cannot speak from personal experience on the alleged quotas to kill criminals,” Haynes said.
Contrary to this, the prosecution claimed that P-1348 would be a reliable witness who would provide broader context of drug war killings before the operations were adopted on a national scale in July 2016, when Duterte assumed the presidency.
Her testimony will also cover the supposed increase in drug war killings and financial rewards allegedly given to police.
Duterte and Dela Rosa face similar charges of crimes against humanity for the alleged systematic killings tied to the deadly anti-drug campaign initially waged in Davao City during the former’s decades-long mayoral stint.
Dela Rosa was named Duterte’s co-perpetrator, being the then PNP chief who spearheaded the deadly anti-drug operations.
Duterte will face trial on 30 November, while Dela Rosa remains at large.