Dennis Gaviola

Article (news)

Principal counsel of the ICC Office of Public Counsel for Victims, Paolina Massidda.

Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779880865694641366452_1431964455645473_3366775215583927420_n.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Principal counsel of the ICC Office of Public Counsel for Victims, Paolina Massidda.</div>MANILA (UPDATED) — The Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday said a number of people who say they are victims of the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign has already expressed willingness to participate in the trial.This, after former President Rodrigo Duterte’s lead counsel Peter Haynes expressed concern about the number of victims who will be participating in the trial.According to Haynes, it would be wise to assess the victims carefully, as there have been previous instances where thousands of victims participated, only for them to be later found unqualified for reparations or compensation.“Forty-nine incidents and 73 deceased, and then even allowing for multiple dependents, from what I’d expect the number of participating victims to be in the low hundreds, and not the high thousands,” he said.“And Ms. [Kate] Gibson and I have had recent experience of the harm that can be done in admitting thousands of victims to participate in the proceedings only for them to find out in the reparations phase that none of them fall within the ambit of the convictions, if any,” Haynes added.He said “it is doing victims no favors to allow thousands and thousands of them to believe they might receive compensation at the end of the day, when that is unlikely even at this stage.” Haynes likewise raised the issue of adding more victims throughout the trial, as this might overwhelm the Defense.“I would invite you to consider whether or not, given the potentially relatively low number of victims who do qualify to participate in this case, whether (screening) shouldn’t be done before the trial starts,” he said.<div><a class="fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/27/icc-chamber-urges-parties-in-duterte-trial-to-streamline-evidence-1714">ICC chamber urges parties in Duterte trial to streamline evidence</a></div>In response, Paolina Massidda said a high number of victim participation in the trial is expected, and that they have already made contact with victims who expressed willingness to participate in the trial.“At the request of the Pre-Trial Chamber, the Prosecution indicated that the number of incidents is only indicative of the victimizations and they are not to be considered an exhaustive list of potential victims,” she said.“This was confirmed by the decision confirming the charges, and therefore, I suspect, and these are our assumption at the moment, that a high number of victims will manifest themselves for trial, and our assessment is done, by of course, having contact with the affected communities, and we can already indicate that a number of victims already enter in contact with us to manifest their willingness to participate in this trial,” Massidda added.To address concerns about additional victims, Massidda said even the victims themselves would need time to prepare for participation.“If the Prosecution is going to add new incidents, than at that point in time, victims will need time, in any case, to continue to manifest themselves for trial,” she said.The chamber, after a two-hour break, said victims&#x27; applications to participate in proceedings will be accepted until the prosecution ends the presentation of its evidence.It will use the ICC&#x27;s A-B-C approach in assessing applicanrs, where the ICC Registry classifies them into those clearly qualified as victims, those clearly not qualified, and those whose qualification it cannot clearly determine.ICC Trial Chamber III is holding the first status conference on the case of Duterte, where it will discuss pertinent issues regarding the case, including the start of the trial, among others.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/27/prosecution-public-counsel-for-victims-want-duterte-icc-trial-to-start-in-2026-1728">Prosecution, Public Counsel for Victims want Duterte ICC trial to start in 2026 </a></div>Presiding Judge Joanna Korner said at the start of the conference that presentation of evidence should be &quot;kept to the minimum possible&quot; because of Duterte&#x27;s health.Duterte is accused of crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019, in connection with the anti-drug campaign.The ICC investigation covers both Duterte’s time in local office in Davao and his presidency, with prosecutors alleging a pattern of killings that expanded from the so-called “Davao model” to the national level.The court has cited three counts of crimes against humanity, including incidents in Davao City and killings linked to police operations nationwide.

The Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday said a number of victims of the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign has already expressed willingness to participate in the trial.

The Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday said a number of victims of the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign has already expressed willingness to participate in the trial.

Public Counsel says ‘a number of victims’ ready to participate in Duterte ICC trial

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Public Counsel says ‘a number of victims’ ready to participate in Duterte ICC trial

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 27, 2026 07:25 PM PHT

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Updated May 27, 2026 09:11 PM PHT

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ICC

International Criminal Court

Rodrigo Duterte

OPCV

Office of the Public Counsel for Victims

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