Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 4 hours ago
Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators, including senators Bato dela Rosa and Bong Go, created a "common plan" to "neutralize" suspected criminals at the height of the previous administration's war against drugs.

On the second day of the confirmation of charges against Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC), trial lawyer Robynne Croft alleged that the former president also has "individual criminal liability" in the charges of crimes against humanity committed in the Philippines.

READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2026/02/24/duterte-co-perpetrators-created-common-plan-to-neutralize-drug-suspects-prosecution

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00For owners, Mr Duterte is an indirect co-perpetrator of the alleged crimes because
00:06First, he agreed to a common plan to neutralise alleged criminals
00:12Second, he and his fellow co-perpetrators jointly controlled a structure of power
00:19Namely, the Davao Death Squad and the National Network, which they used to pursue the common plan
00:28Third, Mr Duterte made an essential contribution to the crimes within the framework of the common plan
00:36And fourth, he did this with the requisite intent
00:43Your Honours can see on your screens an excerpt from paragraph 4 of our document containing the charges
00:50This sets out the scope of the common plan
00:54The plan was to neutralise alleged criminals in the Philippines
00:58Including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production
01:05Through violent crimes, including murder
01:11As Mr Nicholls has explained, Mr Duterte and his co-perpetrators agreed to this plan in Davao City
01:19Photos of the co-perpetrators in Davao City are displayed on your screens
01:23There are a combination of trusted police officers
01:27An individual from Mr Duterte's mayoral office
01:31An officer from the National Bureau of Investigation in Davao Region
01:38And a lawyer who acted on behalf of certain members of the Davao Death Squad
01:44In 2016, when Mr Duterte became President, the members of the common plan remained largely the same
01:53They were joined by a further two individuals
01:56A senior police officer and a long-time colleague of the group from Davao City
02:01Who had worked with the DDS before the jurisdictional period
02:08I will take your honours through some of the evidence
02:11Which shows both the scope of the common plan
02:13And the co-perpetrators agreement to it
02:17In the interest of time, I will address some co-perpetrators
02:20And we rely on our brief for the rest
02:23That's at paragraphs 9 to 23 of our brief
02:29On your screens is a photograph of Mr Ronald De La Rosa
02:34When Mr De La Rosa was Davao City Police Chief
02:37He developed Tokang operations
02:40As your honours have heard from Mr Jeremy
02:42Tokang was a blueprint for police to implement killings later in the presidential period
02:50When he was announced as Mr Duterte's chosen PMP Chief in May 2016
02:56Mr De La Rosa gave this interview, which is at tab 101
03:00It shows that he wholeheartedly agreed to the common plan
03:06It's a death of drugs
03:08It's a death of drugs
03:11It's a death of drugs
03:13It's a death of drugs
03:13It's a drug lord
03:13It's a death of drugs
03:14It's a death of drugs
03:16And I'm really proud of you
03:17I'm proud of you
03:19On this slide is a photo of Isidro La Peña
03:24Like Mr De La Rosa, Mr La Peña was well known to Mr Duterte
03:30Because he too had worked as Davao City Police Chief
03:34In his case from 1996 until 1998
03:40In 2016, Mr Duterte appointed Mr La Peña as Director General of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
03:48Or PIDEA
03:51PIDEA is the lead anti-drug enforcement agency in the Philippines
03:56Two days after Mr La Peña took his oath
03:59He gave a speech to his PIDEA subordinates
04:04There is an excerpt from that speech on the slide
04:08Quote
04:08Under then Mayor, we implemented strict law enforcement against illegal drug activities in Davao City
04:17The President wants to replicate and expand what is being done in Davao
04:21And that is precisely what I intend to do
04:24End quote
04:25That's tab 101
04:32Also like Mr De La Rosa, Vicente Dunao was Davao City Police Chief during the Mayoral period
04:40In his case from 2013 to 2016
04:45In November 2018, he was appointed Police Chief of Manila Police District
04:51And he told reporters
04:53Quote
04:56If I discover anyone involved in drugs
04:59Especially those who distribute or just throw them around
05:02Son of a bitch, I will go after you, god damn
05:05I will kill you
05:07Blatantly I am saying that
05:09Sons of bitches
05:10End quote
05:11That's tab 96
05:17When Mr Duterte became President
05:20He appointed Vitaliano Aguirre II as Secretary of Justice
05:26Mr Aguirre has also publicly acknowledged the common plan
05:30And his agreement to it as a member of Mr Duterte's administration
05:35Well, which do you want?
05:37We build first
05:38Do we build the prison facilities first
05:42Or do we go against these people?
05:45Choose
05:45If you are in the Philippines, we will choose to kill these drug lords
05:52Quote
05:52In the Philippines, we will choose to kill these drug lords
05:56End quote
05:57That's tab 125
06:01Your Honours, these speeches of co-perpetrators show both the scope of the common plan
06:07And those co-perpetrators' agreement to it
06:15Your Honours, the next element of indirect co-perpetration is control of a structure of power
06:22In the mayoral period, Mr Duterte and his co-perpetrators controlled the DDS
06:27which they used to pursue the common plan
06:32There is a diagram of the DDS hierarchy on your screens
06:37As the mayor of Davao City, Mr Duterte sat at the apex of the formal and city structures
06:45The law gave him formal operational supervision and control over the police in Davao City
06:53In addition to this de jure power, insider witnesses spoke about his de facto power over police and the DDS
07:01structure
07:03Under Mr Duterte were a combination of co-perpetrators from the Davao City Police Office and the Mayor's Office
07:12Together with Mr Duterte, they controlled the DDS teams beneath them
07:19They controlled the will of the DDS perpetrators through a range of mechanisms
07:25And these are set out in paragraph 38 of our brief
07:28And include threats to kill and actual killing
07:33To illustrate this control, there are quotes from one witness on your screen
07:41This witness said that when he was first told to kill, he did not want to
07:46But, I quote
07:47I felt like I didn't have any other choice but to follow their orders
07:53Duterte is the most powerful person in Davao City
07:55And you had to do what he wanted
07:58It wasn't possible not to do
08:01To not obey his command
08:02End quote
08:04This is tab 51
08:10When Mr Duterte became president, the co-perpetrators continued to control a structure of power
08:19One of the first things that Mr Duterte did with his new presidential powers
08:23Was to appoint his co-perpetrators from Davao to national positions in government and law enforcement
08:30Which were key to the common plan
08:34And after he appointed Mr Dela Rosa as chief of the PMP
08:38Mr Dela Rosa used his new powers to move other police co-perpetrators into key policing roles
08:47These new appointments expanded the geographic powers of the co-perpetrators
08:52And allowed them to create a larger network of individuals they controlled
09:00Your honours can see that structure of power on the chart on your screens
09:05The co-perpetrators controlled the executive
09:09They controlled the police
09:11They controlled the Drug Enforcement Agency
09:13The National Bureau of Investigation
09:16And the Department of Justice
09:19And they used this control to ensure that their subordinates carried out the plan
09:24To neutralise alleged criminals through violent crimes
09:28For example
09:31As PMP chief, Mr Dela Rosa now controlled some 180,000 police officers
09:38Who, as you have heard, he directed to neutralise drug personalities
09:45Mr La Pena now controlled 1,800 Philippine Drug Enforcement personnel
09:53They used these subordinates as physical perpetrators to commit the crimes
09:59Mr Aguirre as Secretary of Justice
10:02Now had control of the National Prosecution Service
10:06He used this control to ensure that except for a handful of low-level perpetrators
10:12In notorious cases, the crimes were not prosecuted
10:16And a climate of impunity prevailed
10:21And the co-perpetrators controlled the will of the physical perpetrators
10:26As in Davao City, low-level members of the National Network
10:31Risked losing their jobs or being killed if they did not comply
10:36For example
10:39Your Honours can see the evidence of a police insider on your screens
10:45He said that if his boss did not kill enough people during police operations
10:50He would lose his post and be replaced
10:52I quote
10:54We were told that there should be five to ten deaths per month
10:57The regional director called him
11:00And told him that if there were no deaths or no recorded killings
11:04Then he would be relieved of his duty
11:07End quote
11:08That's tab 124
11:14Now on your screens is the evidence of an individual
11:17Who police suspected of involvement in drugs
11:21He surrendered to police to avoid being killed
11:25The police held his status as an alleged drug pusher against him
11:30And recruited him as an asset
11:33They made him kill other civilians who were alleged to be involved with drugs
11:37He said, quote
11:40I surrendered myself to them
11:42I knew that they wanted to kill me
11:44So I became an asset of theirs
11:45End quote
11:47That's at tab 22
11:50I went to the hospital
11:52And what was the result
11:55I was in the hospital
11:55But there was no doubt
11:56I had to say
11:56I was just a mother
11:56And what was most important
11:56To the hospital
11:57I spent a lot of time
12:00There was no one
12:00I went to the hospital
12:00I went to the hospital
12:01I went to the hospital
Comments

Recommended