On 11 March, former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by police in the capital city Manila on a warrant issued by the ICC for murder as a crime against humanity. The warrant was issued in relation to unlawful killings in the “war on drugs” while he was president[1] and for killings in Davao City during his time as mayor (2013-2016), a development welcomed by families of victims and civil society[2]. He was subsequently transferred to The Hague and remained in detention at the end of the year.[3] The ICC Office of the Prosecutor was preparing to request that Duterte be charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, but his lawyers submitted that he was unfit to stand trial. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber postponed his confirmation of charges hearing, originally scheduled for 23 September. No new date had been set by the end of the year.

The conviction of a Police Colonel Dante Lubos who killed Ryan Dave Almora in his home in 2016 in the context of the drug war is a welcome development, though it came 9 years after the crime was committed. Convictions remain limited to a few cases, with no one so far involving killings in Visayas and Mindanao.

The Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court (PCICC) expresses its strong opposition and grave concern over any proposal or consideration for the interim release of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who remains under active investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity arising from the thousands of killings perpetrated during the so-called “war on drugs.”

Responding to news that Representatives Bienvenido Abante and Ramon Gutierrez filed House Resolution 1477, urging Philippine government agencies to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in conducting an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in the campaign against drugs, Dr. Aurora Parong, Co-Chairperson of the Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court (PCICC) said:

Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus, from the Cordillera region in northern Philippines, have been missing since 28 April 2023, in a suspected enforced disappearance by state security forces. Their families received credible information that two individuals matching the missing activists’ description were forcibly taken in the area where they were last seen by unknown individuals identifying themselves as working for a police agency, but have not received neither a confirmation nor a denial from government security forces that such an operation indeed happened.

The PCICC highly welcomes the laudable decisions of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) allowing victims to give their views and concerns on this appeal and rejecting the request for suspensive effect of the appeal filed by the Philippine government. They give hope for justice to the families of victims of extrajudicial killings in the brutal war on drugs. They are flickers of light amidst the darkness of impunity in our country.

The Philippine Coalition on the International Criminal Court (PCICC) responding to the ICC’s Pre Trial Chambers to continue investigation in the Philippines. Dr. Aurora Parong, PCICC co-chair and spokesperson, said:

Amnesty’s Wilnor Papa, Activism and Mobilization Manager, on the killing of Percy Lapid, second journalist to be killed under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. administration.