ICC charges against Duterte expose scale of drug war killings, but road to trial uncertain

Last Updated on September 25, 2025 10:11 pm

By Sam Beltran

The release of charges against Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) has provided the most detailed public account yet of the killings tied to the former Philippine president’s bloody drug war, but the path to a full trial remains uncertain amid claims of his cognitive decline and his lawyers’ push to halt the case.

On Monday, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor released a heavily redacted document dated July 4 detailing the accusations against Duterte, who has been detained at a facility in The Hague since March.

The charges against the 80-year-old cover a total of 76 killings that took place between 2016 and 2018 in the Philippines, with some related to the “war on drugs” that he initiated at the beginning of his term in 2016.