Camille Naredo

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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/1771938156892Screenshot 2026-02-24 at 8.01.09 PM.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators during his time as Mayor of Davao City. Screenshot from the ICCFormer President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators during his time as Mayor of Davao City. Screenshot from the ICC" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators during his time as Mayor of Davao City. <em>Screenshot from the ICC</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- The prosecution team at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday explained the roles of former president Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged &quot;co-perpetrators&quot; in implementing his &quot;war on drugs&quot; during his time as mayor of Davao City, and later as president of the Philippines.</p><p>Duterte, 80, faces three ICC counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.</p><p>Prosecutor Robynne Croft, during the second day of the confirmation of charges hearing at The Hague, enumerated the individuals who were allegedly part of a &quot;hierarchical structure&quot; that Duterte had created in Davao City and then expanded at the national level upon his election as Philippine president in 2016.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/duterte-drew-up-death-lists-boasted-about-murders-icc-prosecutor-1942">READ: Duterte drew up &#x27;death lists&#x27;, boasted about murders: ICC prosecutor</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/icc-prosecution-victims-counsels-submit-merits-on-day-2-of-duterte-pre-trial-1657">READ: ICC prosecutor cites &#x27;insider witness,&#x27; says &#x27;neutralize&#x27; on Dela Rosa&#x27;s 2016 PNP memo meant to &#x27;kill&#x27;</a></div><p>&quot;... The orders flowed from Mr. Duterte at the top through a combination of other co-perpetrators to the handler of the relevant DDS (Davao Death Squad) team, and finally to the physical perpetrators at the bottom,&quot; said Croft.</p><p>&quot;When the attack expanded during the presidential period, it continued to be systematic, because it remained highly organized, planned, and coordinated. Similar systems to the ones I&#x27;ve just described in Davao were deployed during Mr. Duterte&#x27;s presidency to implement the killings,&quot; she added.</p><p>Croft highlighted the alleged &quot;co-perpetrators&quot; during Duterte&#x27;s time as Davao City mayor: Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; Dela Rosa (chief of Davao City Police); Vicente Danao (chief of Davao City Police); Camilo Cascolan (finance chief of Davao City Police); Christopher Lawrence &quot;Bong&quot; Go (special assistant); Dante Gierran (Davao Director of NBI); and Vitaliano Aguirre II (lawyer).</p><p>The prosecutor noted that upon Duterte&#x27;s election as president, the &quot;members of the common plan remained largely the same.&quot; Two individuals were further alleged to be co-perpetrators: Oscar Albayalde (regional director of the NCRPO), and Isidro Lapeña (chief, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency).</p><p>Croft highlighted the role of dela Rosa, now a Senator who has been referred to as the chief architect and implementer of the former leader&#x27;s war on drugs. Dela Rosa 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><p>&quot;When Mr. Dela Rosa was Davao City police chief, he developed &#x27;Tokhang&#x27; operations… &#x27;Tokhang&#x27; was a blueprint for police to implement killings later in the presidential period,&quot; said Croft, who played a video of an interview wherein Dela Rosa was shown to be &quot;wholeheartedly agree(ing) to the common plan.&quot;</p><p>Croft also underscored the role of Lapeña as director of PDEA and noted his agreement of Duterte&#x27;s plan. Lapeña was quoted as saying: &quot;The president wants to replicate and expand what is being done in Davao and that is precisely what I intend to do.&quot;</p><p>Of Danao, the prosecutor also showed a clip of him saying that he will &quot;go after&quot; those involved in drugs.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;CLIMATE OF IMPUNITY&#x27;</strong><strong><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/1771938223183Screenshot 2026-02-24 at 8.01.55 PM.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators during his time as president of the Philippines. Screenshot from the ICC" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators during his time as president of the Philippines. <em>Screenshot from the ICC</em></span></span></span></strong></div><p>The prosecutor pointed out that Duterte&#x27;s alleged co-perpetrators controlled a &quot;structure of power&quot; that expanded once he became president. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/list-key-points-from-duterte-s-first-icc-pre-trial-hearing-1233">LIST: Key points from Duterte&#x27;s first ICC pre-trial hearing</a></div><p>&quot;The co-perpetrators controlled the executive. They controlled the police. They controlled the drug enforcement agency, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. They used this control to ensure that their subordinates carried out the plan to neutralize alleged criminals through violent crimes,&quot; said Croft. </p><p>She said of Aguirre: &quot;Mr. Aguirre, as secretary of justice, now had control of the national prosecution service. He used this control to ensure that except for a handful of low-level perpetrators in notorious cases, the crimes were not prosecuted and a climate of impunity prevailed.&quot;</p><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/1771939392453Screenshot 2026-02-24 at 8.13.44 PM.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner"><em style="text-align:left">Screenshot from the ICC</em></span></span></span></div><p>Earlier, another prosecutor, Edward Jeremy, laid out allegations that Duterte personally drew up &quot;death lists&quot; and boasted about murders committed during his &quot;war on drugs.&quot;</p><p>He also brought up the controversial 2016 national police memorandum issued by dela Rosa during his time as PNP chief, which was the basis of the administration&#x27;s &quot;Oplan Double Barrel.&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 week-long ICC proceedings are not a trial but a &quot;confirmation of charges&quot; hearing, enabling judges to weigh whether to move ahead with a trial.</p><p>Duterte, 80, is not in court after exercising his right not to appear.</p><p>His defense team says he is weak and in cognitive decline. The prosecution and victims counter that he is healthy but does not want to face the loved-ones of victims.</p><p>The court passed him fit to attend but granted his right to stay away.</p><p>Once the hearings wrap up Friday, the court will take up to 60 days to decide whether to proceed to a full trial, usually in a written judgement.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, on Monday said his client &quot;maintained his innocence absolutely&quot;.</p><p>Kaufman argued that while Duterte used &quot;bluster and hyperbole&quot; in his speeches, he also frequently ordered authorities only to shoot in self-defense.</p><div><strong>-- with a report from Rowegie Abanto, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong></strong><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><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></div>

<p>The prosecution team at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday explained the roles of former president Rodrigo Duterte's alleged "co-perpetrators" in implementing his "war on drugs" during his time as mayor of Davao City, and later as president of the Philippines.</p>

The prosecution team at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday explained the roles of former president Rodrigo Duterte's alleged "co-perpetrators" in implementing his "war on drugs" during his time as mayor of Davao City, and later as president of the Philippines.

ICC prosecutor explains roles of Duterte's alleged 'co-perpetrators'

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ICC prosecutor explains roles of Duterte's alleged 'co-perpetrators'

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 24, 2026 09:06 PM PHT

|

Updated February 25, 2026 08:15 AM PHT

Read More:

Duterte ICC

International Criminal Court

ICC

Rodrigo Duterte

Ronald dela Rosa

Vicente Danao

Vitaliano Aguirre II

Isidro Lapena

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