Former President Duterte Faces Murder Charges at ICC Over Drug War Killings

Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima affirmed on September 23 that the murder charges against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte stem directly from his own policies and actions. These charges, filed by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Court (ICC), accuse Duterte of crimes against humanity relating to murder during his controversial anti-drug campaign.

Duterte, who has been detained at The Hague since March 2025, is currently undergoing trial before the ICC. De Lima declared, "His detention and indictment for the drug war killings are the direct consequence of his own actions. As we have said again and again, he has no one to blame but himself. His co-conspirators will follow him to the Hague soon enough."

Characterizing the filing of charges as a significant step towards justice, De Lima highlighted that it marks accountability for the atrocities committed both in Davao City by the so-called "Duterte Death Squad" and across the Philippines during the nationwide crackdown.

She noted that the pursuit of justice began with the OTP’s preliminary examination launched in 2018, a warning Duterte largely ignored. "The wheels of justice started to grind as early as the OTP’s declaration of a preliminary examination of the drug war killings in 2018. As early as then we already warned Duterte to stop the killings or he will inevitably face justice before the ICC, no matter how far off in the future."

"That future we warned him about is now the present we are witnessing. Duterte did not lack warnings and advice from the Philippine human rights community about his future accountability. He ignored all these warnings at his own peril," she added.

Rodrigo Duterte served as president of the Philippines from 2016 until 2022, during which his administration's violent anti-narcotics campaign drew international condemnation for alleged widespread human rights violations.