Intensify our collective resistance: Hold former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and his cohorts accountable
Yesterday, the prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally started the process of confirming the charges of crimes against humanity of former President Rodrigo Duterte. At last, he is being made to face the systematic killing crimes said to have been carried out during his time as Mayor of Davao to his term as President of the Philippines, committed between 2011 to 2019. For the Filipino people – especially the victims and the families left behind by the blood-soaked “war on drugs” – this is a long-overdue crack in the fortress of impunity, and a concrete step toward justice and accountability.
Among the allegations is the killing of 19 individuals – including three children – in Davao between 2013 and 2016, linked to the Davao Death Squad: an alleged extrajudicial killing apparatus that served Duterte’s interests and consolidated his power. The charges also include the murder of 14 so-called “high value targets” across the country from 2016 to 2017, allegedly carried out by a network involving state actors. A separate count cites 43 killings and 2 attempted killings from 2016 to 2018 attributed to the so-called National Network – further proof of a tight, coordinated, and wide-reaching machinery of violence involving the state and its accomplices.
According to the prosecution, Duterte bears criminal responsibility, particularly as an indirect co-perpetrator under Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute. The allegations further show that he ordered or incited killings, facilitated the distribution of weapons, installed key personnel, offered incentives, guaranteed impunity – ensuring that perpetrators would not be punished – and openly condoned, if not actively strengthened, a culture of murder.
The coalition also welcomes the ICC’s naming of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go as co-perpetrators in the brutal “war on drugs. ” Other former officials were likewise mentioned, including Vicente Danao, Camilo Cascolan, Oscar Albayalde, Dante Gierran, Isidro Lapeña, and Vitaliano Aguirre II. The message is unmistakable: this was never the work of one man alone. This was a state project — mobilizing the police, bureaucracy, and the full machinery of power. Therefore, everyone involved must be held to account — from the architects to the executors.
More than 500 victims are currently recognized and documented in these cases — a small fraction of the over 30,000 reported deaths, including those killed by police and by other still-unidentified perpetrators. Although they are not included in the ICC proceedings, we must also add to this number the human rights activists who were killed and imprisoned during his regime.
Finally, the coalition salutes all those who dared to testify against Duterte – despite threats, harassment, and the relentless attacks of trolls and defenders of impunity against the victims’ families. We also honor the progressive organizations and ordinary people who continue to expose the truth and fight for accountability. The struggle is long, but we will not retreat. We will intensify our collective resistance until Duterte and all his accomplices are punished – until the use of power to trample human rights is ended.
