Ched Rick Gatchalian

Alleged drug war victim during former President Rodrigo Duterte's administration. Basilio Sepe, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

Duterte's 'kill rhetoric' fostered climate of violence; deaths in police ops rarely probed — victims' counsel

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/1772202061261SnapInsta.to_494095703_1157451893096732_2859280804470027081_n.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Alleged drug war victim during former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s administration. <em>Basilio Sepe, ABS-CBN News/File </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The counsel for the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s bloody war on drugs on Friday said Filipino culture is important to understanding the &quot;criminal intent and impact&quot; of his speeches, adding that his words as head of government became policy itself. </p><p>He added these dehumanized the victims of alleged extrajudicial killings and swayed state agents to not fear accountability.</p><p>Atty. Gilbert Andres, among the common legal representative of the victims, raised over 10 rebuttals on the fourth day of the confirmation of charges hearing in Duterte&#x27;s case which centered on the impact of Duterte&#x27;s words to the police and the victims, the magnitude of the alleged &quot;systematic attack&quot;, and the Supreme Court in the Philippines&#x27; ruling that police cannot claim presumption of regularity in operations where deaths occurred.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/-he-must-answer-for-the-dead-prosecution-reiterates-evidence-enough-to-send-duterte-case-to-trial-2029">‘He must answer for the dead’: Prosecution reiterates evidence enough to bring Duterte to trial</a></div><p>He said that, in the Philippines, executive power is vested in the president and &quot;whatever the president publicly states is policy.&quot; </p><p>&quot;And in the Philippine cultural context, when there is strong respect for those in government positions, especially the president, as head of state, and as head of government, the words of the president is to be obeyed no matter what,&quot; he added.</p><p>This, after Duterte&#x27;s lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman reiterated that the former&#x27;s speeches and public statements should only be seen as “hyperbole” and “bluster” that do not support his alleged co-perpetration.</p><p>Andres claimed that Dutertes&#x27; words shaped &quot;the Filipino psyche to his murderous rhetoric&quot;, exposing EJK victims to dehumanization and assuring police forces that they can supposedly act with impunity.</p><p>The victims&#x27; counsel also rejected Kaufman&#x27;s argument, where the latter said there could be no proof of Duterte ordering or abetting the crimes because the prosecution did not formally include command responsibility (Article 28 of the Rome Statute) in the charges.</p><p>This had been Kaufman&#x27;s rebuttal to Office of Public Counsel for Victims counsel Paolina Massidda&#x27;s earlier statements about Duterte&#x27;s alleged encouragement of killings and failure to investigate police killings.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/defense-argues-no-direct-order-from-duterte-to-kill-victims-no-direct-line-to-co-perpetrators-1944">Defense argues no direct order from Duterte to kill victims, no direct line to &#x27;co-perpetrators&#x27;</a></div><p>&quot;Ms. Massidda&#x27;s comment on the fact that Duterte did not take steps to investigate and prosecute was pronounced in the context of a submission on the fact that encouragement of killings by Duterte sent a clear message that those responsible need not fear accountability — and can act with impunity,&quot; Andres said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>POLICE OPS WITH DEATHS RARELY PROBED, KILLED CHILDREN NOT &#x27;MERE COLLATERAL DAMAGE&#x27;</strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><p>Andres also said that the Supreme Court has held that the Philippine National Police (PNP) cannot claim presumption of regularity — or that police did their jobs lawfully — when deaths occurred during their operations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/25/icc-hearing-day-2-duterte-dead-list-high-profile-drug-war-kills-and-co-perps-common-plan-0922">ICC Hearing Day 2: Duterte &#x27;dead list&#x27;, high-profile drug war kills and co-perps&#x27; common plan</a></div><p>&quot;The PNP cannot claim the presumption of regularity in official functions because deaths are not supposed to occur during any other operations,&quot; he said, citing a 2018 ruling.</p><p>He added the SC had also raised the number of dead in a 2017 year-end report — 3,967 drug personalities killed and another 16,355 &quot;homicide cases under investigation&quot;. He noted that only about 302 of these were referred for investigation.</p><p>Andres reiterated Massidda&#x27;s argument: Police operations that led to killings were barely probed despite Kaufman&#x27;s statement that Duterte was &quot;intolerant for rotten apple police officers.&quot;</p><p>Andres also emphasized that there were children who &quot;systematically&quot; died from EJKs, saying they are not mere collateral damage.</p><div><a 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><br/></div><div><strong>WIDESPREAD </strong><strong>SYSTEMATIC ATTACKS OF &#x27;WAR AGAINST POOR&#x27;</strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><p>Following Kaufman&#x27;s earlier arguments stressing alleged EJKs were not &quot;widely systematic&quot; and are not proven to be directed to entire Filipino population, the victims&#x27; counsel detailed the quantitative and qualitative nature of a widespread, systematic attack.</p><p>&quot;Widespread refers to the scale of the attack, courts and commentators interpret it to many indicators,&quot; he said, saying violence can spread geographically and the attacks could be sustained overtime, rather than isolated incidents, impacting a civilian population.</p><p>&quot;Systematic on the other hand refers to the organized nature of the attack. It is about how the violence is carried out, when there is pattern, or rhetorical plan,&quot; he added.</p><p>He mentioned state involvement, use of resources, logistics, weapons or personnel deployed in organized way for the attack.</p><p>He said that, to meet the criteria of deeming an event as both widespread and systematic attack, the attack must be widescale with non-accidental repetition.</p><p>&quot;Systematic reflects the organized nature of the acts of violence and the improbability of random occurrence, patterns of crimes, evidenced by non-accidental repetition on similar conduct on a regular basis,&quot; Andres said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/kaufman-icc-prosecution-failed-to-show-alleged-ejks-targeted-entire-filipino-population-1950">Kaufman: ICC prosecution failed to show alleged EJKs targeted entire Filipino population</a></div><p>He argued that in relation to Duterte&#x27;s case, &quot;the only reasonable conclusion is [that] the attack against the specific group within the civilian population [of] individuals perceived as linked to drug crimes, was widespread and systematic.&quot;</p><p>He also mentioned that most of the victims were poor or came from impoverished communities, calling the drug war a “war against the poor” instead. </p><p>The ICC’s confirmation of charges hearing will determine within the next 60 days whether there is sufficient evidence for the case against Duterte to proceed to trial.</p><div><br/></div><div><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/vq1j4VK1O7Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The counsel for the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs on Friday said Dutertes' words shaped "the Filipino psyche to his murderous rhetoric", exposing EJK victims to dehumanization and assuring police forces that they can supposedly act with impunity.</p>

The counsel for the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs on Friday said Dutertes' words shaped "the Filipino psyche to his murderous rhetoric", exposing EJK victims to dehumanization and assuring police forces that they can supposedly act with impunity.

Duterte's 'kill rhetoric' fostered climate of violence, impunity — victims' counsel

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Duterte's 'kill rhetoric' fostered climate of violence, impunity — victims' counsel

Ched Rick Gatchalian,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 27, 2026 10:42 PM PHT

|

Updated Feb 28, 2026 02:33 AM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

Drug war

Victims' counsel

The Hague

International Criminal Court

Extrajudicial killings

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