Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea stands as a legal counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte during his initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court, March 14, 2025. ICC

Article (news)

Jonathan Magistrado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1771027500347174415940833320250314-duterte-icc-medialdea-ICC-3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea stands as a legal counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte during his initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court, March 14, 2025. <em>ICC</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(3rd UPDATE) </strong>— The International Criminal Court on Friday released a detailed document containing the charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, which cover alleged killings while he was Davao City mayor and during the government&#x27;s &quot;war on drugs&quot; while he was president.</p><p>The 16-page document submitted by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and that the ICC made public with redactions also names several high-ranking government police officials — including two who are now sitting senators — as &quot;co-perpetrators&quot; in crimes against humanity, specifically murder and attempted murder, from 2013 to 2018.</p><p>It says that the ICC Office of the Prosecutor alleges that Duterte oversaw a &quot;Common Plan&quot; to &quot;neutralize&quot; suspected criminals, especially those linked to illegal drugs.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ALLEGED NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE</strong></div><p>The Prosecution argues that the alleged common plan was carried out through two main groups:</p><p>• The Davao Death Squad (DDS):  This group allegedly operated in Davao City while Duterte was vice mayor and mayor (2011-2016). It was reportedly made up of police officers and hired killers who targeted alleged thieves and drug pushers.</p><p>• The National Network: Prosecution claims the Davao model was expanded across the entire country when Duterte was elected president in 2016. This nationwide network included the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other government agencies.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;CO-PERPETRATORS&#x27;</strong></div><p>The report names several former high-ranking officials as &quot;co-perpetrators&quot; who allegedly helped manage these groups.</p><p>Among those named are: </p><p>• Sen Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; Dela Rosa, former PNP chief</p><p>• Sen. Christopher Lawrence &quot;Bong&quot; Go, long-time aide and former special assistant to the president </p><p>• Vitaliano Aguirre II, former justice secretary</p><p>• Camilo Cascolan, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/11/24/23/ex-pnp-chief-camilo-cascolan-passes-away">former PNP chief (deceased)</a></p><p>• Oscar Albayalde, former PNP chief</p><p>• Dante Gierran, former National Bureau of Investigation regional director for Davao and later NBI chief</p><p>• Isidro Lapeña, former Davao City police chief and later chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency</p><p>• Vicente Danao, former Davao City police chief</p><p>In a Facebook post, lawyer Kristina Conti of the National Union of People&#x27;s Lawyers and who represents some families of people killed in the &quot;drug war&quot; said the inclusion of these &quot;co-perpetrators&quot; shows &quot;the plan was crafted not only to ensure implementation, but to ensure impunity.&quot;</p><p>She pointed out that the involvement of the NBI and the PDEA, &quot;which should have acted as the killings [happened], is material to the plan.&quot;</p><p>Authorities had routinely labeled those who died in acknowledged anti-drug operations as having violently resisted arrest and giving law enforcement no choice but to kill them.</p><p>Victims of the &quot;drug war&quot;, including teenager Kian delos Santos, were also labeled as runners, dealers or otherwise linked to the illegal drug trade</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/13/500-more-drug-war-victims-seek-to-join-icc-case-against-duterte-0125">500 more drug war ‘victims’ seek to join ICC case against Duterte</a></div><p>A Department of Justice review of several dozen operations where &quot;drug personalities&quot; were killed found irregularities and lapses in protocol.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;LACKING IN TRUTH&#x27;</strong></div><p>Duterte&#x27;s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said the defense team will prove that the prosecution&#x27;s list of alleged co-perpetrators in the drug war is &quot;lacking in truth.&quot;</p><p>Kaufman also lashed out at the &quot;sensational reporting&quot; of the list, claiming that it &quot;is clearly politically motivated and designed to decimate the Senate in the hope of perverting the democratic will of the Filipino people”.</p><p>&quot;None of these co-perpetrators are, in my opinion, currently subject to arrest warrants,&quot; he added. &quot;It flies in the face of prosecutorial logic to seek further warrants in the Philippines situation before the decision of the Appeals Chamber on the former President’s jurisdictional challenge.&quot; </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;JUST MADE THE WORLD SMALLER&#x27;</strong></div><p>Mamamayang Liberal Party-List Rep. Leila De Lima, who tried when she was a senator to hold hearings on drug war killings, said the publication of the ICC document &quot;just made the world smaller&quot; for those named.</p><p>&quot;Time and again, we warned these people, even from prison, that this day will come. Like Duterte, they did not listen. Mayayabang pa sila,&quot; she said.</p><p>De Lima, who was jailed for drug cases filed by the Duterte administration that have since been dismissed, said she expects the former Duterte officials to go into hiding.</p><p>&quot;No matter, Justice will always catch up with them. Justice will be  served.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>THE THREE MAIN CHARGES</strong></div><p>The Prosecution broke down the alleged crimes into three categories:</p><p>• Murder in Davao (2013-2016) : Focuses on 19 victims killed in Davao City during Duterte&#x27;s time as mayor.</p><p>• Killing of &quot;High-Value Targets&quot; (2016-2017) : Involves 14 detahs of individuals labeled as top-tier targets. The report mentions a &quot;PRRD List&quot; where police could reportedly receive secret rewards of up to P1 million for killing a target.</p><p>• Barangay Operations (2016-2018) : Covers the murders of 43 people and the attempted murder of two others during local police operations. The Prosecution highlighted that these victims included three children.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/11/icc-greenlights-new-evidence-just-weeks-before-duterte-confirmation-hearing-2231">ICC greenlights new evidence, just weeks before Duterte confirmation hearing</a></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>DUTERTE&#x27;S ALLEGED ROLE</strong></div><p>The Prosecution argues that Duterte is responsible because he controlled the &quot;structure of power&quot; that allowed these killings to happen.</p><p>He is accused of:</p><p>• Designing and spreading the policy to kill alleged criminals.</p><p>• Ordering and inducing police and hitmen to commit murder.</p><p>• Publicly encouraging the killings and promising immunity to those who carried them out.</p><p>The Prosecution also said these were not random acts of violence but a &quot;widespread and systematic attack&quot; against civilians following a specific state policy.</p><p>The case will now proceed as the ICC&#x27;s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 determines if there is enough evidence to hold a trial.</p><p>The Prosecution has also submitted a &quot;Second Updated List of Evidence&quot;.</p><p>This submission adds two new items to the existing evidence list, though the specific details of the evidence and sensitive witness information remain confidential for security reasons.</p>

<p>The document submitted by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and that the ICC made public with redactions accuses Duterte of crimes against humanity, specifically murder and attempted murder, from 2013 to 2018.</p>

The document submitted by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and that the ICC made public with redactions accuses Duterte of crimes against humanity, specifically murder and attempted murder, from 2013 to 2018.

ICC Prosecution document names Bato, Go and others as 'co-perpetrators' in drug war deaths

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ICC Prosecution document names Bato, Go and others as 'co-perpetrators' in drug war deaths

Jonathan Magistrado,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 14, 2026 08:13 AM PHT

|

Updated Feb 14, 2026 04:57 PM PHT

Read More:

International Criminal Court

ICC Office of the Prosecutor

Rodrigo Duterte

Drug War

Bong Go

Bato dela Rosa

crime against humanity

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