THE prosecution and the defense in the trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have reached an agreement on certain basic issues, including his identity and the definition of the smallest unit of government in the Philippines.
The details were outlined in a document titled “Joint Prosecution and Defense Submission on Agreed Facts” dated Sept. 1 and published on the ICC website. The submission bore the signatures of ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang and Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman.
On Apr. 17, the ICC instructed both the prosecution and the defense to “liaise with a view of reaching an agreement on alleged facts” with a deadline on Sept. 1.
On Aug. 22, the Prosecution then emailed the defense proposing an initial 10 facts for agreement, but the latter only agreed to four facts in an email response on Aug. 26.
The facts sought to establish that Duterte was born on 28 March 1945 in Maasin, Southern Leyte, Philippines; that he is a citizen of the Philippines; that the initials PRRD is commonly used in the Philippines meaning President Rodrigo Roa Duterte; and that “barangay” is the smallest political and administrative unit in the Philippines that serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs and projects.
The document said both parties have agreed to resume efforts to come to terms further facts “once the issue of [REDACTED] has been resolved.”
According to official government figures, at least 6,000 people were killed during in Duterte’s war on drugs. However, human rights groups and ICC prosecutors estimate the number of deaths to be as high as 12,000 to 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.
Duterte was arrested on March 12 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and taken to Villamor Air Base on the same day. He was later flown to The Hague, where he is currently detained.
His pretrial hearing took place on March 14, while the confirmation of charges was scheduled for Sept. 23. Meanwhile, he has a pending request for interim release.
