Financial allegations surfacing at Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial may carry weight beyond the halls of Congress, with a lawyer representing drug war victims saying the International Criminal Court is taking note.
Kristina Conti, an assistant to counsel at the ICC, said testimony linking large sums of money to the Duterte family could strengthen the prosecution’s case against former president Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague.
“I can assure you that yes, it’s being monitored, but it’s not closely watched. There’s mild curiosity, at the minimum, about developments in the Philippines,” Conti said in a radio interview, speaking partly in Filipino.
The financial trail alleged during Wednesday’s House hearing centers on deposits totaling at least P181.6 million made into Duterte family accounts between 2011 and 2013, according to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Of that figure, P22.3 million was allegedly deposited into VP Duterte’s account and P15.7 million into that of the former president. The Anti-Money Laundering Council has reportedly confirmed that portions of Trillanes’ financial records align with its own data.
Conti said the period in question coincides with what she described as an “intense” phase of drug war killings in Davao, while Sara Duterte was serving as city mayor — a post she assumed in 2010 after her father became term-limited. She held the position until 2013, having first entered city government as vice mayor in 2007.
The ICC’s interest, Conti explained, lies in whether the money can be connected to the killings themselves.
“Because first, it might have an impact on the investigation… Second, they also need to [establish the] connect[ion] of the money to the killings,” she said.
This aligns with testimony presented during the ICC’s confirmation of charges in late February, when Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls cited accounts from an alleged former member of the Davao Death Squad who claimed its members received cash payments from Duterte for killing drug suspects. Non-police DDS members, prosecutors alleged, were compensated through ghost employment appointments at Davao City Hall. ICC court records identify Rodrigo Duterte as the DDS’s founder and commander.
Beyond cash, the ICC prosecution has also accused the former president of supplying the DDS with weapons, ammunition, and logistical support.
Retired police officer Arturo Lascañas, who has identified himself as a former DDS member, has separately alleged that VP Duterte bore responsibility for launching “Oplan Tokhang” during her tenure in Davao and that she appointed then-Davao police chief Ronald dela Rosa — now a senator — who allegedly oversaw the killings. The VP has denied the allegations.
In April last year, VP Duterte acknowledged her name appears on the ICC’s list of individuals subject to potential arrest, though she noted that Senators Dela Rosa and Bong Go — both already named as co-perpetrators in the crimes against humanity case against her father — are ahead of her on that list.
The ICC investigation covers killings that took place between November 2011 and March 2019. Rodrigo Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, has acknowledged the court’s intentions plainly: “Duterte is the big catch of this court, and it was never really my impression that they would let him go that easily.”ICC lawyer Conti says Trillanes financial testimony could bolster Hague case vs. Rodrigo Duterte
