MANILA – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has formally laid out crimes-against-humanity charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, accusing him of orchestrating a bloody campaign of murders and attempted murders during his reign as both Davao City mayor and the country’s chief executive.
In a redacted “Document Containing the Charges” dated July 4 and released September 22, prosecutors alleged Duterte’s involvement in 49 incidents that claimed or targeted 78 victims. The explosive release came ahead of a confirmation of charges hearing in The Hague, which was later postponed after his lawyers argued he was “not fit to stand trial.”
“The Prosecution charges the murders and attempted murders below, although the actual scale of victimization during the charged period was significantly greater, as reflected in the widespread nature of the attack,” the filing signed by ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang declared.
The charges paint a chilling portrait of Duterte’s war on drugs and alleged reliance on death squad-style tactics:
* Count 1: Nine incidents in Davao City (2013–2016) that killed 19 people. Prosecutors said Duterte, then mayor, was an indirect co-perpetrator who “ordered and/or induced, and/or aided and abetted.”
* Count 2: Killings of 14 alleged “high-value targets” nationwide (2016–2017), shortly after Duterte assumed the presidency. Victims were linked to drug syndicates and manufacturing operations.
* Count 3: Barangay-level anti-drug operations (2016–2018) that targeted 45 individuals, of whom 43 were killed, during Duterte’s presidency.
The prosecution alleged Duterte oversaw a “National Network” of police, security forces, government agencies, and hired gunmen — a machinery patterned after the notorious Davao Death Squad.
“Together, Duterte and his co-perpetrators established a network of perpetrators comprising State actors such as law enforcement officers (including personnel from the PNP, PDEA, the NBI and the Bureau of Corrections (“BuCor”)), non-police assets and hitmen (together, ‘the National Network’), to operate in a similar manner as the DDS in conducting operations to kill alleged criminals in accordance with the Common Plan,” the filing said.
Prosecutors also disclosed that some victims were drawn from a “PRRD List” — a ranking system tied to Duterte’s initials — that graded individuals by “value” from Levels 1 to 5. Police officers who eliminated targets allegedly received off-the-books rewards ranging from ₱50,000 to ₱1 million.
“The physical perpetrators of the murders in Count 1 meant to cause the victims’ deaths or were aware that their deaths would occur in the ordinary course of events,” the document added.
The ICC stressed the attacks were not isolated but “widespread” and “systematic,” designed as a pattern of violence directed squarely at civilian populations./PN
