The War on Drugs: Did Duterte testify against himself?
As a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in his inaugural address on June 30, 2016, vowed to exert relentless and sustained efforts in the campaign against drugs and criminality. This appeared to be his priority as he delegated the formulation of public policies to solve other equally crucial issues that plagued the country to members of his cabinet. As Duterte unleashed his war on drugs, thousands of killings took place, mostly in urban poor communities. According to the BBC, the official figure for the number of alleged drug dealers and users killed between July 2016 and April 2022 was 6,248. However, human rights advocates believe the number could be as high as 30,000.
Considering the scale of the drug war, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was involved. The Philippine government requested the ICC to defer its investigation because the Philippines had started its own investigation. But nothing came of this, so the ICC resumed its investigation. Duterte caused the Philippines to withdraw from the ICC. But based on the Rome Statute, ICC jurisdiction remains for the period 2016-2019, when the Philippines was still a member.
In the Senate investigation of the war on drugs and the EJK (extrajudicial killings), Duterte attended and tried to monopolize the public hearing. But he unwittingly admitted that he alone was responsible for the brutal drug war and therefore for the EJK. There was nothing new to this declaration, but this time, Duterte made it under oath. No less than the Senate President himself and various human rights lawyers have agreed that such a declaration was damning—enough evidence to bring Duterte to court. And unlike in the past, Duterte today does not enjoy immunity from prosecution.
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