Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is to face three charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.
The indictment was issued on March 4, 2025, but the details have remained confidential until today.
They allege he was involved in the killing of at least 76 people while he was mayor of Davao City and then later as president.
Prosecutors also allege that in reality, Duterte had a hand in “at least hundreds of other murders during the mayoral period, thousands of other murders in the presidential period, and other violent crimes.”
Official estimates put the death toll at 6,000, although activists claim it runs into the tens of thousands.
The names of his co-conspirators remain redacted, but the group is accused of sharing “a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including murder.”
They did so by using “police from Davao City and non-police hitmen,” the charges say, which they were able to do because they “controlled a structure of power—the local police and related DDS [Davao Death Squad] hierarchy—that enabled them to control the will of the physical perpetrators.”
“Police who killed a target on the list could access a covert reward system (which existed outside of the regular formal rewards system) and receive a payment ranging from 50,000 to one million Philippine pesos (about US$874 to $17,400), depending on the level of the target,” the indictment reads.
“Those who did not follow orders risked being killed and were disposed of when perceived as opposing or posing a threat to the common plan, however insignificant.”
When Duterte became president, the network was expanded to include members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Bureau of Corrections.
The “neutralisation” of people through violence, including murder and other crimes, “became a State policy in the presidential period,” it says.
Many of the victims are listed as “first name unknown, last name unknown.”
Of the 76 identified, 19 were killed while Duterte was mayor of Davao City between 2013 and around 2016; 14 who died in targeted killings between 2016 and 2017 when Duterte was president; and 43 people murdered during so-called “clearance operations” between 2016 and 2018.
Duterte was well known for taking a hard line against drug dealers in both elected roles, openly threatening them with death and encouraging police to shoot them if they resisted arrest. When he was president, he denied authorising extrajudicial killings.
His lawyers have argued that the 80-year-old is unfit to stand trial. In May, he was again elected mayor of Davao, despite being in prison, and the office is currently filled by his son.
Duterte was arrested at Manila airport in March, and within hours was on a chartered jet to The Hague, where the ICC sits.
His main political rival, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., confirmed the government had handed him over.
Minutes after Duterte left the Philippines’ airspace, Marcos gave a televised address saying the country was fulfilling its legal obligation.
“This is what the international community expects of us,” he said.
