Rowegie Abanto

Akbayan protests ahead Rodrigo Duterte's pre-trial hearing. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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Akbayan 

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/177192242786820260223-ejk-convict-duterte-protest-akbayan-MT-11.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Akbayan protests ahead Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s pre-trial hearing. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — The prosecution team of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday opened the second day of the pre-trial on Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s crimes against humanity case by bringing up the controversial 2016 national police memorandum issued by the former president&#x27;s then police chief, now Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; dela Rosa.</p><p>Dela Rosa, Duterte&#x27;s first head of the Philippine National Police, was commonly referred to as the chief architect and implementer of the former leader&#x27;s war on drugs. </p><p>He has been named as Duterte&#x27;s co-perpetrator in ICC documents and has been absent from his Senate duties for months now, following rumors of the issuance of an ICC arrest warrant for him, which has yet to be confirmed.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/dilg-tracking-alleged-co-perpetrators-of-duterte-1352">READ: DILG tracking alleged co-perpetrators of Duterte</a></div><p>At the continuation of the confirmation of charges proceedings, which are meant to determine whether Duterte will face a full trial, trial lawyer Edward Jeremy told the court that Dela Rosa in 2016 issued PNP Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016.</p><p>The memorandum was the basis of the Duterte administration&#x27;s &quot;Oplan Double Barrel&quot; in which it ordered police officers to address the drug problem in the barangays and &quot;pursue the neutralization of illegal drugs personalities.&quot;</p><p>Jeremy, citing an &quot;insider witness,&quot; said the memorandum circular &quot;used the word neutralize to emphasize the kill order of President Duterte because that is the promise of President Duterte even before the campaign.&quot;</p><p>&quot;While on its face, this word may be open to interpretation, insider witnesses provide evidence that within law enforcement within the Philippines, to neutralize meant to kill,&quot; he said.</p><p>The lawyer noted that the &quot;first foundational reference&quot; of the memo was the pronouncement of Duterte &quot;to get rid of illegal drugs during the first six months of his term.&quot;</p><p>The use of the word &quot;neutralize&quot; in that PNP memo was the subject of debate in 2024 during congressional hearings into Duterte&#x27;s war on drugs.</p><p>Dela Rosa at the time said the word did not mean killing drug suspects but meant doing something to prevent the personalities from committing the alleged crimes again. He then admitted that drug operations could inevitably have ended in killings if the suspects fought back. </p><p>Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, who was the justice secretary at the time, said that &quot;neutralizing&quot; drug suspects could also mean &quot;killing&quot; in the context of the Philippine police&#x27;s culture.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/28/-google-it-bato-cites-internet-to-dispute-diokno-s-report-on-neutralization-of-drug-suspects-1719">READ: Bato cites internet to dispute Diokno&#x27;s report on &#x27;neutralization&#x27; of drug suspects</a></div><p>Duterte, during his numerous speeches as president, encouraged policemen to shoot drug pushers and users and other criminals and kill them if they fought back. But he later claimed that killing was not an official policy of his administration.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman meanwhile said on Monday that the charges against the former president were &quot;grievously misplaced&quot; and &quot;politically-motivated.&quot;</p><p>ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang on Monday accused Duterte, 80, of being an indirect co-perpetrator for the alleged &quot;widespread and systematic&quot; killings committed from November 2011 to March 2019 — a period that covered his term as mayor of Davao City and as president of the Philippines. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/20/duterte-s-drug-war-from-the-streets-of-manila-to-the-icc-confirmation-of-charges-1200">Duterte’s drug war: From the streets of Manila to the ICC confirmation of charges</a></div><p>Jeremy&#x27;s presentation on Tuesday focused on detailing the basis of the counts two and three charged against Duterte, who faces a total of three counts of crimes against humanity over 78 deaths, seen as representative of the thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings under his leadership.</p><p>The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City. </p><p>The second relates to 14 murders of so-called &quot;High Value Targets&quot; in 2016 and 2017 when he was president.</p><p>The third charge covers 43 murders committed during &quot;clearance&quot; operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.</p><p>The chamber has scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing for Duterte to take place on February 23, 24, 26, and 27 at The Hague, the Netherlands.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s confirmation of charges hearing was originally scheduled for September 23, 2025, or five months ago, but was postponed at the request of his defense team.</p><p>ICC judges previously found that Duterte is fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings despite his camp&#x27;s assertions of his alleged cognitive decline.  </p><p>But Duterte will not be present, either virtually or in person, after the court allowed him to skip the hearings. He is represented by his lead counsel, Kaufman, and a host of other lawyers.</p><p>ICC judges have 60 days to issue a written ruling following the hearings.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/prosecution-urges-icc-to-reject-duterte-camp-s-bizarre-request-to-disclose-witness-whereabouts-1052">Prosecution urges ICC to reject Duterte camp’s ‘bizarre’ request to disclose witness whereabouts</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/-traumatic-families-of-ejk-victims-re-traumatized-on-day-1-of-duterte-icc-hearing-0737">&#x27;Traumatic&#x27;: Families of EJK victims &#x27;re-traumatized&#x27; on Day 1 of Duterte ICC hearing</a></div><div><strong>—With reports from Agence France-Presse </strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>WATCH</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oj3nI1KSFBA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>The prosecution team of the ICC on Tuesday opened the second day of the pre-trial on Rodrigo Duterte's crimes against humanity case by bringing up the controversial 2016 national police memorandum issued by the former president's then police chief, now Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa.</p>

The prosecution team of the ICC on Tuesday opened the second day of the pre-trial on Rodrigo Duterte's crimes against humanity case by bringing up the controversial 2016 national police memorandum issued by the former president's then police chief, now Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa.

ICC prosecutor cites 'insider witness,' says 'neutralize' on Dela Rosa's 2016 PNP memo meant to 'kill'

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ICC prosecutor cites 'insider witness,' says 'neutralize' on Dela Rosa's 2016 PNP memo meant to 'kill'

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 24, 2026 04:57 PM PHT

|

Updated February 25, 2026 08:18 AM PHT

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