The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is tracing personalities tagged as co-perpetrators in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
While acknowledging it has not received any fresh arrest warrant from Interpol, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said authorities are already monitoring the named co-conspirators in Duterte’s case.
“There is no warrant of arrest yet, so we have no actionable document. However, we are tracing these people already, except for one who has already passed away. We are already tracing them so in the event that there is a need (to look for them), we are ready,” Remulla said.
“We are getting all the records. We should have them by this week. I think two are abroad, two are in the US, but we will eventually get them,” he added.
Two sitting senators — Bato dela Rosa and Bong Go — were identified among the eight alleged co-perpetrators in ICC documents earlier released by prosecutors.
Other former officials named in the document include former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II; former Philippine National Police officials Vicente Danao, Camilo Cascolan (deceased), Oscar Albayalde, and Isidro Lapeña; and former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran.
A survey by Social Weather Stations showed that a majority of Filipinos believe Dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief during the Duterte administration, should also be held accountable for extrajudicial killings linked to the war on drugs.
The survey, conducted in November 2025 and posted on the SWS website this month, found that 53 percent of respondents agreed that Dela Rosa should be made answerable for the alleged summary killings. Twenty-one percent disagreed, 20 percent were undecided, while five percent said they did not know enough to give an opinion.
The poll also showed that 47 percent of respondents believe the ICC would conduct a fair trial against Duterte, while 24 percent expressed little confidence in the court and 29 percent were undecided.
On Tuesday, ICC prosecutor Edward Jeremy alleged that Duterte personally drew up “death lists” and boasted about murders committed during his war on drugs.
On the second day of proceedings, Jeremy presented testimony alleging that children had their heads wrapped in packing tape and were strangled to death.
“As president, Duterte publicly named persons he alleged were involved in drugs, and many of those would end up as victims in his so-called war on drugs,” Jeremy said.
The so-called “Duterte list” was described by a witness as “basically a death list,” with Jeremy showing a video of Duterte saying: “I am the sole person responsible for it all.”
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity before the ICC, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018. Prosecutors say this represents only a fraction of the thousands believed killed during his anti-drug campaign as mayor of Davao City and later as president.
“As witnesses stated, the poor were often targeted, because they were the ones least likely to file complaints against the police,” Jeremy said.
He also played a clip of Duterte joking about “extrajudicial killings” during a speech.
“And in this opulent, gilded presentation room, the officials laugh along with their president while he boasts about his skills in extrajudicial killing,” Jeremy said. “And outside on the streets of the Philippines, the bodies pile up.”
Jeremy alleged that nearly 1,500 people had already been killed at the time the video was recorded. He further claimed that in two separate cases, children aged around 14 or 15 were taken into custody, had their heads wrapped in packing tape to muffle their screams, and were strangled to death.
“It’s difficult to imagine a more terrifying end to two lives that had barely even begun. And these murdered children were then sold to funeral homes,” Jeremy said.
The week-long ICC proceedings are not a trial but a confirmation of charges hearing, during which judges will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Duterte, 80, did not appear in court after exercising his right to be absent. His defense team said he is weak and in cognitive decline, while prosecutors and victims’ representatives counter that he is healthy but unwilling to face victims’ families. The court deemed him fit to attend but allowed him to waive his appearance.
After the hearings conclude Friday, the ICC will have up to 60 days to decide whether to proceed to a full trial, typically through a written decision.
Duterte’s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said his client “maintained his innocence absolutely.” Kaufman argued that while Duterte used “bluster and hyperbole” in his speeches, he also frequently instructed authorities to shoot only in self-defense.
