The International Criminal court is expected to hand down a verdict on former President Rodrigo Duterte. In cahoots with the present dispensation it kidnapped and detained the country’s leader with the highest Trust and Approval ratings until the end and after his term.
He was shanghaied to the Hague in Netherlands for crime against humanity for the alleged killing of 43 victims in his war against drugs syndicates in the course of his six-year term as President.
That number however does not make a crime against humanity make. The ICC detained him for over a year obviously for lack of material evidence to commence trial and come up with a verdict. The court resorted to a shameless move – it went shopping and wooing more witnesses online but in the process revealed the weakness of the case against Duterte.
The ICC judges cannot render judgement on the bases of media reports from interviews with political adversaries of Duterte and media personalities who will not stop at brazen lies to earn their prize and price. The stories in fact are packs of fabricated events and figures. The prosecutors harangue the ICC judges with allegations that thousands of extrajudicial killings carried out by the Davao Death Squad which former Human Rights Commissioner Leila de Lima claimed was organized by Duterte. In all counts, the claims are blatant lies.
ICC should know the fact that DDS is a phantom force created in 1984 by Davao Police Regional Commander, Col. Dionisio Tan-gatue Jr. It was part of a psychological warfare used by the Integrated National Police to counter the vicious liquidation squad of the NPAs known as “Sparrows”.
ICC should realize that the thousands EJKs victims carried out by DDS and buried in an abandoned quarry, as alleged by De Lima, is in truth another brazen lie. For months in 2009, de Lima who Chaired the Commission on Human Rights virtually held camp in Davao City and conducted numerous diggings in the quarry site but found nothing except for a badly deteriorated skeletal remains which could date back prior to World War II.
De Lima had since become Secretary of Justice, Senator and now a Partylist Representative. She had been perorating about EJK, DDS and the thousands of EJK victims but all she can present is a fairytale written from her own unfounded conjectures.
In yet in another abstract and incredible story, Maria Ressa of Rappler sensationalized what pan-handling human rights foundations conjured that 27,000 to 30,000 deaths were attributed to the Davao Death Squad. In an interview with Bill Whitaker of BBC she went on to describe the Philippines as “far worse than any war zone” and yet as an American citizen she opted to stay and live in the country.
That is a predicate to the claim of genocide however that rhetoric is simply sound bytes. More than 100 days in detention yet the former president could die in prison while the ICC wearily awaits for more names to be added to 43 unless the court finds credence to the nebulous and unproven claim of thousands deaths. Then they will have blood in their hands, something which they will be held accountable of.
By all indications the International Criminal Court depended largely on the complaints raised by the families of the 43 victims caught in the crossfire between police authorities and the drug syndicates. It is unfortunate that they were there at the wrong time and the wrong place. It is of record moreover that all the police involved had been brought to court, convicted and are serving their prison terms.
Truly the justice system in the Philippines is functional. But the new centurions in the government wanted Duterte exiled and detained and in the process forego with the judiciary. In the final analysis, the fault of Duterte is that he holds an impeccable persuasive influence over the electorates. Scared of what he can do in the subsequent elections the current dispensation abducted him and handed him over to foreign authorities.
Amidst the slow grind of justice in the Hague, Netherlands, a news and message of admonition surfaced in Geneva, Switzerland. To conclude this column allow me to quote it verbatim:
“A Japanese senior researcher delivered a fiery statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), calling for the immediate release of former Philippine president Rodrigo Roa Duterte and accusing international institutions of allowing what he described as serious human rights violations.
Speaking during the General Debate session on March 11, 2026, Shunichi Fujiki, a representative of the International Career Support Association and senior researcher at the International Research Institution of Controversial Histories (iRICH), claimed that Duterte’s continued detention is “unjust, politically motivated, and a violation of international law.”
According to Fujiki, it has been exactly one year since Duterte was allegedly unjustly arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on March 11 of last year.
He argued that since then, the former president has been subjected to ongoing human rights violations, raising concerns before the international community.
“Even under international law, the continued detention of former President Duterte cannot be justified,” Fujiki said during his address.
Fujiki also questioned the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that international tribunals should only intervene when a country’s justice system is unable or unwilling to handle a case.
He stressed that no formal trial has taken place in the Philippines, which he said raises serious questions about why the ICC is intervening at all.
According to Fujiki, such actions could be interpreted as undue interference in the sovereignty of the Philippines.
In his remarks, Fujiki went further by suggesting that the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may be using the situation to dismantle the political influence of Duterte and his family.
He claimed that despite the legal battle, the Duterte political bloc continues to enjoy significant public support in the country.
Fujiki said his continued participation in international forums is aimed at drawing global attention to what he calls a miscarriage of justice.
“Cases like this should not be brought to the ICC,” he said. “The international community must recognize the injustice that has happened to the former president of the Philippines.”
He added that his goal is to push the international community to scrutinize the situation more closely and ensure that international law is applied fairly and without political bias”.
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