IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has filed three counts of murder as crimes against humanity against former president Rodrigo Duterte, citing 76 victims from his years as Davao City mayor and during the bloody “war on drugs” under his presidency.
In a redacted document released on September 22, ICC prosecutors said Duterte should be held liable as an indirect co-perpetrator who ordered, induced, or abetted killings that formed part of a “widespread and systematic attack” against civilians from November 2011 to March 2019, when the Philippines was still a state party to the Rome Statute.
19 murders in Davao, 57 nationwide
The charges break down as follows:
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19 victims were killed in Davao City between 2013 and 2016, the last stretch of Duterte’s mayoralty. Prosecutors link these to the so-called Davao Death Squad.
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14 victims were “high-value targets” killed between 2016 and 2018, the first years of Duterte’s presidency.
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43 murders and 2 attempted murders were recorded in barangay “clearance operations” nationwide in the same period.
Prosecutors stressed the 76 named victims are only a sample of a much larger pattern of violence — hundreds killed in Davao and thousands more across the country under the drug war.
Duterte’s role
The ICC said Duterte designed and propagated a policy to kill suspected criminals, appointed and directed key officials to carry it out, and provided resources to police and hired gunmen. He also publicly named individuals as criminals, some of whom were later killed.
“Duterte held ultimate authority over the police, non-police assets, and barangay officials,” the document stated, describing him as sitting “at the apex of the hierarchy.”
Arrest and detention
The former president was arrested on March 11, 2025, and has been in ICC custody in The Hague since March 12. His first court appearance was via video link on March 14.
A confirmation of charges hearing, initially set for September 23, was postponed after Duterte’s lawyers questioned his fitness to stand trial.
Despite being in detention, Duterte was proclaimed mayor-elect of Davao City in absentia after winning his eighth term in the May 2025 polls. His son, Sebastian, currently serves as acting mayor.
What’s next
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber will decide whether to confirm the charges and move the case to trial. If convicted, Duterte faces possible imprisonment.
The case marks an unprecedented moment: a former Philippine president now in the dock of the world’s permanent court for alleged mass atrocities. It also reopens the polarizing debate over Duterte’s drug war — hailed by his supporters as decisive, condemned globally as deadly and inhumane.
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