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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
February 25, 2026 | 7:00am
MANILA, Philippines — When former President Rodrigo Duterte used public speeches to order killings, people wound up dead.
That was one of the core arguments advanced by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court as they sought to link Duterte's rhetoric to the deaths that followed.
On the second day of the confirmation of charges hearing, prosecutors kept at their strategy playing clips in which Duterte appeared to admit to killing someone, tell police and others it was acceptable to kill drug suspects, or promise protection to officers who did so.
But beyond Duterte's words, prosecutors had to establish that all elements of crimes against humanity of murder under the Rome Statute were present.
They must show there was an attack against a civilian population, that the attack was widespread and systematic, and that it was carried out as state policy.
Attack on a civilian population
The prosecution grouped profiles of victims, citing testimony that killings disproportionately targeted poor individuals who lacked means to fight back and "complain."
Edward also referenced cases involving minors, including 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, to illustrate the breadth of the violent campaign.
Paolina Massidda, counsel for victims, recounted accounts from families of those who perished extrajudicially. One was a mother made to watch as cops shot her son and plant evidence.
"The campaign was less about the drug trade, but more about policing poverty and social inequality," Massidda told the chamber.
Other victims held local positions. ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Edward Jeremy cited the killing of former Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., who appeared on Duterte's so-called narco-list.
Despite surrendering to the police, Espinosa died in detention while CCTV was turned off and a gun planted on him. Police claimed he died in a shootout.
Widespread and systematic
To establish that the campaign was widespread, prosecutors resorted to numbers. They pointed to data from when Duterte was Davao City mayor, when at least 274 people were allegedly killed.
When he became president, hundreds became thousands. Police killings rose by 590% within 25 months of Duterte taking office, they said.
In Bulacan province alone, prosecutors said, police killings outnumbered those recorded in entire countries over comparable periods.
How did the killings reach that scale? The prosecution pointed to Duterte's national network led by the same people who first perpetuated violence in Davao.
They named his police chief Ronald dela Rosa, along with former police officials Vicente Danao, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña as alleged co-perpetrators, among others.
ICC trial lawyer Robynne Croft said several of these officials publicly pledged to follow Duterte's plans, even when that meant killing suspects.
Prosecutors said the pattern was consistent: a name would appear on a drug list, police would conduct an operation, the suspect would be killed and evidence would be planted.
They argued that police reports were often copy-and-pasted or falsified.
State policy
When Duterte wanted a kill, he got one, the prosecution claimed. His words functioned as orders within a structured system.
They cited the memorandum establishing "Oplan Double Barrel," issued under then-Philippine National Police chief Dela Rosa. The project became synonymous with extrajudicial killings.
Jeremy told judges that the memorandum used the term "neutralization," which an insider witness said meant killing.
He also bared what appeared to be a ranking system for targets and a reward structure for cops who killed.
Individuals who were on Duterte's "dead list" often ended up dead, and that perpetrators were shielded from accountability.
The confirmation of charges hearing resumes Thursday, February 26, with Duterte's defense team set to respond.
Judges must determine whether there are substantial grounds to believe Duterte committed the crimes charged before deciding to proceed to a full trial.
