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Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star
March 1, 2026 | 12:00am
Julian Nicholls and Mame Mandiaye Niang of the prosecution during the confirmation of charges hearing against former president Rodrigo Duterte, Feb. 23, 2026 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
International Criminal Court / Released
MANILA, Philippines — Based on what transpired during the hearings on the confirmation of charges against him, former president Rodrigo Duterte is likely to go on trial for crimes against humanity, according to a constitutional expert.
“In my view, the case will proceed to trial because the level of evidence, the quantum of evidence, is substantial evidence only. It’s not proof beyond reasonable doubt yet,” Domingo Cayosa, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines told radio dzBB in an interview yesterday.
The ICC has 60 days to decide whether to proceed with a trial after the confirmation of charges hearing ended on Friday.
Cayosa pointed out the use of documentation – which included public records and news reports – in the prosecution’s presentation of evidence, and the defense’s effort to “explain away the facts” as their respective strengths.
“If it can no longer be denied because it is already there and well-documented… you try to explain it away. That means, what the former president said before were just mere bragging, politician talk and hyperbole,” he said, referring to the defense’s possible strategy during the hearing.
Also included in the defense’s tactic, Cayosa stressed, was an attempt to distance Duterte from the nexus or link to the extrajudicial killings.
Cayosa also said both the prosecution and defense used “emotion and politics” in presenting their respective sides.
He also thought the Duterte camp might be trying to prevent the former president from showing up or speaking during the hearing because “he might stand with his previous pronouncements.”
‘Nation under trial’
For Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, the entire nation, not only Duterte, is on trial as “many who were once peace-loving Filipinos were slowly shaped into clones of their idol.”
“They (Filipinos) became mirrors of the very violence they were witnessing. Brutality became entertainment. Threats became punchlines. And they echoed the chilling threats of their cult leader by trolling for him on social media,” David said in a Facebook post. — Bella Cariaso
