Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court opened their presentation by turning to Rodrigo Duterte’s own public remarks, arguing that his words provide insight into the intent behind the anti-drug campaign that defined his presidency.
Although the former Philippine leader did not appear on the first day of the confirmation of charges hearing, the prosecution team repeatedly cited statements he delivered over several years, both as mayor of Davao City and later as president. Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity linked to thousands of killings carried out during anti-drug operations. Official police figures place the death toll at at least 6,200 by May 2022, while human rights organizations estimate that the number, including vigilante-style attacks, could reach as high as 30,000.
Deputy ICC prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told the court that the former president’s declarations were neither isolated nor ambiguous. According to Niang, Duterte “not only shared them with his co-perpetrators and members of the death squad, but also made them abundantly clear to the general public in the numerous public statements that he made time and again.” The prosecutor described these remarks as evidence that his “criminal plan and his intent were no secret.”
Several of the statements highlighted during the hearing date back to Duterte’s tenure in Davao City. Addressing criticism in 2013 over his stance on police use of lethal force, he said: “The operation of the police was legitimate, and all was legal and the order and policy of the city government to shoot armed and dangerous criminals stand…. The shoot-to-kill order is a legitimate tool of the government to combat lawlessness.”
During a televised interview on November 1, 2015, months before winning the presidency, Duterte warned: “In Davao, I will really kill you. If I become president, you will all get wiped out. I will order your execution within 24 hours.”
After assuming office, he continued to make statements defending police actions. Speaking at the 80th anniversary of the National Bureau of Investigation on November 14, 2016, he said he would shield officers involved in anti-drug operations. “Kaya ito sila, poprotektahan ko (That’s why I will protect them). And if there’s somebody who will go to jail, it’s me. I will assume full, legal responsibility. If it fails, they’d say that I’d rot in jail, so be it. No worry, I’m old, just a few years.”
At a dinner during the Wallace Business Forum in Malacañang on December 12, 2016, Duterte spoke about his past in Davao and his approach to enforcement. “And I must admit that a third of the killings really happened during police encounters. And I know it because I am not trying to said pull my own chair. But in Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys that, if I can do it why can’t you? And I go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around and I would just patrol the streets and looking for trouble also. Talagang naghanap ako ng engk’wentro para makapatay (I really looked for encounter so I could kill).”
He also addressed soldiers in Compostela Valley on September 30, 2016, invoking his constitutional authority to grant clemency: “For as long as there is the power to pardon sa Constitution, ’yan ang weapon ko against crime. Mag-massacre kayo ng isang daan, isang daan din kayo, eh di pardon lahat eh. Restored to full political and civil rights plus a promotion to boot. Basta gano’n mga — lalo na, high profile.”
In his 2016 State of the Nation Address, Duterte framed the campaign as a matter of public welfare and order. “He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of them all. You started it — you swallow it. Let me repeat: He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of them all. We are just doing our work. We have a nation to guard. We have millions of people to ensure they are healthy. It’s a matter of drugs, it’s a matter of public interest, public order. You see lesser crimes now — no more theft, no more hold-ups. Why? Because, they say, why punish the small ones, they are just minor offenses?”
