DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The diehard supporters in Davao City will not see their beloved mayor and president home.
Not even the strong turnout of their rallies that happened twice during his birthdays in 2025 and 2026. Not even the flood of comments they pour out on Facebook pages criticizing the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what they believe is a conspiracy with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
For the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, their ruling was based on facts.
On April 23, the three-panel chamber unanimously confirmed the charges of crimes against humanity against former president Rodrigo Duterte, for ordering the widespread and systematic attacks in the war on drugs that killed tens of thousands during his terms as Davao City mayor and president.
The confirmation came a day after the ICC Appeals Chamber, a separate body, rejected Duterte’s final appeal challenging ICC’s jurisdiction, including a request for his immediate release.
Common Plan
The chamber found “substantial grounds” presented by the prosecution team during the confirmation hearings last February, ascribing the killings to a “Common Plan” Duterte agreed with his co-perpetrators to “neutralize” alleged criminals linked to selling and using illegal drugs. The prosecution pointed out that neutralizing involved murders and often covered up with the “nanlaban” narrative.
The prosecution identified as co-perpetrators of the Common Plan are former police chiefs Senator Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa, Oscar Albayalde, Vicente Danao, Camilo Cascolan (deceased), and Isidro Lapeña, former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and former Special Presidential Assistant Senator Christopher “Bong” Go.
The ICC looks on three charges of specific periods of Duterte’s war on drugs campaign:
- Count 1: Extrajudicial killings committed by the Davao Death Squad (DDS) against 19 victim during his term as mayor of Davao City between 2013 and June 2016;
- Count 2: Murders of “high-value targets” across the nation during his presidency between July 2016 and July 2017 of at least 14 victims;
- Count 3: Murders and attempted murders in barangay clearance operations across the nation between July 2016 and September 2018 of at least 45 victims.
Defense
Duterte’s lawyer at the ICC, British-Israeli Nicholas Kaufman, told reporters on Friday that they will file a request for leave to appeal the decision. The leave to appeal will allow the defense to question the ruling before the Appeals Chamber.
Kaufman maintained that there was lack of evidence cited by the judges and that the charges were “based on the uncorroborated statements of vicious self-confessed murderers acting as cooperating witnesses.”
Duterte’s children, including Vice President Sara Duterte, have not issued statements on the ICC decision.
Legal victory vs impunity
The Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) hailed the ICC
decision as a “victory against impunity.”
“This ruling is more than a legal victory; it is a shattering blow to the wall of impunity that has shielded the architects of state-sponsored slaughter for far too long,” the group said in a statement.
UPLM added that the decision affirms that domestic legal maneuvers cannot be used to shield high-ranking officials from accountability for international crimes.
“The ICC remains the court of last resort when domestic systems fail—or refuse—to provide genuine justice,” the group said.
The lawyers’ group also criticized attempts by the Duterte camp to frame the ICC process as an infringement on sovereignty, while Sara Duterte called the arrest of her father a “kidnapping.” In these instances, UPLM said the disinformation must be challenged.
Duterte pulled out the Philippines from the Rome Statute in 2018, which binds the country under ICC, a maneuver the defense raised saying the ICC lacked jurisdiction.
“Sovereignty is not a license to massacre one’s own people,” UPLM said.
For the families of victims, the ruling affirms years of seeking justice.
“We have long waited for this moment. It’s been nearly ten years since Duterte started implementing his deadly war on drugs. We look forward to seeing him in ICC court,” said Llore Pasco, whose sons were killed in 2017.
“We feel immense joy… this ICC decision is proof that there is a limit to the power of a leader who abused his authority,” she added.
What’s next
Following the confirmation of charges, the case will be transferred to a Trial Chamber, which will determine the next steps, including the timeline and procedures for trial.
Victims have been authorized to participate in the proceedings through a common legal team.
Duterte has been in ICC custody since March 12, 2025, following a dramatic arrest operation in Manila that flew him to the ICC Detention Centre in Scheveningen, The Hague.
The confirmation took over a year to happen as his lawyer made a series of appeals, including a plea that the former president is “not fit to stand trial” for cognitive impairment. This and other appeals were rejected by the ICC.
For both lawyers and victims’ families, the ruling signals that long-standing demands for accountability are beginning to be addressed through international legal mechanisms.
“The path toward justice is long, but this ruling proves that impunity will not have the last word,” UPLM said.(davaotoday.com)
