Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte is accused of being an ‘indirect co-perpetrator’ in the murders of dozens of alleged criminals.

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been charged with three counts of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which alleges that he played a role in the murders of at least 76 people during his so-called “war on drugs”.

The charges against the 80-year-old, who has been held in a detention facility in the Netherlands since March, are set out in a document that was published by the ICC on Monday.

They relate in part to the anti-drug crackdown Duterte led when he was president, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged narcotics dealers and users.

The heavily redacted ICC charge sheet, which is dated from early July and is signed by the court’s deputy prosecutor, Mame Mandiaye Niang, sets out what prosecutors see as Duterte’s individual criminal responsibility for dozens of deaths that occurred between 2013 and 2018.

The first count dates to his time as mayor of Davao City, when he is alleged to have been an “indirect co-perpetrator” in 19 murders between 2013 and 2016.

The second and third ICC charges concern his years as president. The former relates to the murders of 14 so-called “high-value” targets in 2016 and 2017, while the latter refers to 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations against lower-level alleged criminals between 2016 and 2018.

The 76 murders were carried out by police as well as non-state actors, such as hitmen, according to the ICC document.

The publication of the charges came several weeks after a court delayed Duterte’s appearance scheduled for later this month at the ICC to hear the accusations against him.

The court must first consider whether the former president is fit to stand trial, following his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s suggestion that the case should be indefinitely postponed because of Duterte’s poor health.

Kaufman has said that Duterte is suffering “cognitive impairment in multiple domains”.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, on March 11, and was swiftly flown to the Netherlands, where he has been held in ICC custody. The 80-year-old insists his arrest was unlawful.

Duterte’s supporters in the Philippines allege that his detention is political and the result of his family’s falling out with the current president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

President Trump praised the Philippines’ president for an “unbelievable job” in a fight against illegal drugs that has left thousands dead and drawn condemnation from American lawmakers, according to a leaked transcript of their telephone conversation last month.

Trump’s discussion with Rodrigo Duterte is likely to reinforce the impression that Trump is sidelining human rights concerns in his foreign policy. Trump has met with several authoritarian leaders since taking office in January, offering few critiques of their records on democracy, the rule of law and protecting essential freedoms.

The transcript of the April 29 call was first posted by the Washington Post. It is marked confidential and is contained under a cover sheet from the Philippine Foreign Ministry. Neither the Philippine government nor the White House verified the transcript, but they didn’t dispute its contents.

It also shows the leaders discussing the North Korean threat, with each referring to North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, as a “madman.” In an unusual disclosure of the movements of U.S. military assets, Trump revealed the U.S. had two nuclear submarines in the region. He said the United States didn’t want to use them.

Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump for his reported comments.

“Today’s reporting leaves me even more concerned by President Trump’s strange fascination with dictators, his support for the extrajudicial killings central to President Duterte’s ‘drug war,’ and his recklessness with sensitive information,” said Rep. Eliot L. Engel of New York, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Twelve Democratic senators, led by Edward J. Markey, wrote to Trump on Wednesday calling for him to denounce the “murderous” anti-drug campaign and delay any visit by Duterte to Washington until there are improvements in his human rights record.

The Philippines declined to comment on the transcript Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry noted that the unauthorized disclosure and use of illegally or inadvertently obtained government documents are not permitted under Philippine law. A White House official said he could not confirm or deny the accuracy of leaked documents, especially those purportedly from a foreign government.

At the time of the call, Trump raised hackles in Washington by inviting Duterte to the White House. Since Duterte took power in June, his anti-drug campaign has killed 7,000 to 9,000 suspected dealers and addicts, according to human rights groups. The State Department has voiced concern over extrajudicial killings, and U.S. lawmakers have pushed for restrictions on arms sales to Philippine police in response.

“I just want to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump said in the phone call, according to the transcript. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

Duterte responded that drugs are a “scourge” of his nation. Trump then added, “I think we had a previous president who did not understand that.”

President Obama had criticized Duterte’s drug fight, prompting the Philippine leader to refer to Obama as a “son of a whore.” The insult derailed a planned meeting between them. Strains also grew as Duterte sought warmer ties with China and threatened to end the U.S.-Philippine military alliance.

In the call, Duterte described Southeast Asian nations feeling “nervous” over North Korean rockets and warheads. He offered to call Chinese President Xi Jinping to urge Beijing to use its leverage with Pyongyang. Trump, who hosted Xi at Trump’s Florida resort in April, described Xi as a “good guy.”

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, criticized the contents of the conversation.

“Trump’s celebration of Duterte’s record is nothing short of horrifying,” Sifton said. “It is an endorsement of the mass killing of the Philippines’ poorest and most vulnerable.”

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July 26 (UPI) — An impeachment proceeding against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte can’t proceed due to a constitutional limit on the annual number of impeachments, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled.

The Philippine Constitution bans multiple impeachment proceedings in a given year, so Duterte could not be impeached until February, the nation’s Supreme Court announced on Friday, the BBC reported.

The ruling does not prevent Duterte’s impeachment, but it delays it until an impeachment proceeding would not violate the Philippine Constitution.

“It is not our duty to favor any political result,” the court said in its ruling. “Ours is to ensure that politics are framed within the rule of just law.”

The court said it is prepared to address the claims against Duterte “at the proper time and before the appropriate forum.”

Lawmakers in the Philippine Parliament’s lower house in February voted to impeach Duterte for allegedly misusing taxpayer dollars and threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

It was the fourth impeachment case received by the lower chamber from December to February, one of which was transferred to the Senate.

Duterte is the daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and formerly was a close political ally of Marcos. She is considered to be a viable candidate for the nation’s presidency during the 2028 election cycle after she and Marcos had a political fallout.

Duterte and Marcos in 2022 formed what they called the “Uniteam,” which temporarily united two of the nation’s most powerful political families. After the pair secured wins in the May 2022 elections, the Uniteam began to fray.

Duterte’s father called Marcos a “drug addict,” and Duterte in November said she ensured the president would be killed if she were killed first.

The elder Duterte afterward was extradited to the Hague to be tried for alleged crimes against humanity due the deaths of thousands arising from his administration’s war on drugs.

Rodrigo Duterte was president for six years from June 2016 to June 2022.

Sara Duterte says the accusations against her are politically motivated, although many supporting her impeachment note that 12 of the nation’s 15 Supreme Court justices were appointed by her father.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” killed thousands of people.

For years, Catholic priest Flaviano Villanueva has gathered evidence of alleged extrajudicial killings.

He exhumed victims’ bodies for forensic examination and protected a key witness who claims he worked as a contract killer for Duterte.

In March 2025, the priest’s persistence paid off when Duterte was arrested and extradited to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.

101 East follows Father Villanueva’s fight for justice for the victims of Duterte’s brutal crackdown.