The Hague, Netherlands – Families of victims of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign said they felt “belittled” by the defense presentation before the International Criminal Court, rejecting arguments that the killings were not widespread and insisting they were not random acts by rogue police.
Llori Pasco, a mother of an extrajudicial killing victim, said the defense submissions diminished the suffering of families who lost loved ones in the drug war.
“Talagang minaliit po ang aming pagkatao. Parang niwalang halaga yung aming mga mahal sa buhay. May sinasabi na numero lang, parang hindi binigyan ng halaga yung aming paghihirap,” Pasco said.
[Translation: Our dignity was truly belittled. It was as if our loved ones were treated as mere numbers. Our suffering was not given value.]
She said the defense merely reframed earlier prosecution arguments and disputed the claim that the term “neutralize” did not imply intent to kill.
“Sa community, pag sinabing ‘neutralize,’ siyempre pagpatay — malawakang pagpatay,” she said.
[Translation: In the community, when you say ‘neutralize,’ that means killing, mass killing.]
Sheera Escudero, whose brother was killed in the anti-drug campaign, said the families remain resolute.
“Malinaw pa rin sa amin why we’re here. Nandito kami para sa mga mahal namin sa buhay at para sa libu-libong biktima,” Escudero said.
[Translation: It is still clear to us why we are here. We are here for our loved ones and for the thousands of victims.]
Escudero said the defense cannot change the fact that so many were killed in Duterte’s drug war.
Human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, representing the victims, rejected assertions that the case was weakened.
“Wala akong nakita na nag-shatter,” Colmenares said, disputing claims that the prosecution arguments had collapsed.
He also pushed back against the notion that the killings were isolated.
“The reverse of their theory is this: random killings ang nangyari, walang order sa taas. Kanya-kanyang patay ang libo-libong pulis? Hindi makukumbinsi ang korte doon,” he said.
[Translation: The reverse of their theory would mean the killings were random, with no order from above — that thousands of police officers independently decided to kill thousands of victims. The court will not be convinced by that.]
Kristina Conti, assistant to counsel for victims, said more families are expected to apply to formally participate should the case proceed to trial, noting that about 1,500 individuals joined earlier ICC proceedings in 2021.
“This is not just a call — there is a real need for justice,” Conti said.
Duterte’s counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said prosecutors failed to establish legal requirements for indirect co-perpetration.
“As we all know, in order to prove criminal liability through indirect co-perpetration, there is a need to show a common plan upon which the suspect and his co-perpetrators must mutually agree, and that common plan must without exception have a criminal element,” Kaufman told the court.
He said the prosecution could not identify any specific meeting or direct evidence that showed Duterte and alleged co-perpetrators agreed to a plan to kill.
Kaufman also said prosecutors failed to prove the killings constituted a “widespread or systematic” attack against civilians, pointing to the limited number of incidents cited in the charge sheet and the absence of forensic evidence such as mass graves.
He further contended there was no “causal nexus or link” between Duterte’s speeches and specific killings.
“There is no smoking gun in this case,” Kaufman said.
Prosecutors said the killings carried out when Duterte was mayor of Davao City and later as president formed part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians in the context of his anti-drug campaign.
