List: 2 Philippine Senators, other former officials named as 'co-perpetrators' in ICC case against ex-president Duterte

Manila: Two sitting Philippine senators, among others, have been identified as “co-perpetrators” in the "crimes against humanity" case against former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to prosecution documents dated February 13 and released publicly late Friday (February 13).

Senators Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa and Christopher "Bong" Go are among eight current and former officials named in the filing.

Duterte, 80, was arrested in Manila in March 2025 and transferred the same day to ICC custody in The Hague, Netherlands. He maintains that his arrest was unlawful.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Duterte and his co-perpetrators “shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ suspected criminals”—including alleged drug users and peddlers—“through violent crimes including murder.”

The killings, prosecutors said, became “widespread” after Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016 and appointed his trusted police officials to implement Project Double Barrel, the nationwide anti-drug campaign led by Dela Rosa as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

By the end of Duterte’s six-year term, official police figures placed the death toll at more than 6,200.

Human rights groups, however, estimate that as many as 30,000 people, mostly from poor communities, may have been killed.

ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his role in at least 76 murders linked to his controversial “war on drugs.”

“Duterte and his co-perpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines [including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production] through violent crimes including murder,” the prosecution document reads.

"By means of their de jure and/or de facto authority, one or more of the Co-Perpetrators controlled a structure of power — the local police and related DDS hierarchy — that enabled them to control the will of the physical perpetrators,” the document reads.

As mayor, the prosecutor office said Duterte “sat at the apex” of the formal police and city structures, with legal control over the PNP units in Davao City, as well as of non-police Davao City Hall workers and barangay officials, “who sometimes participated in or facilitated the crimes."

So-called barangay handlers and police, it alleged, subordinated DDS members who were the ones who allegedly carried out the crimes.

“The handlers reported to a combination of police and Co-Perpetrators (in particular, Dela Rosa [2012-2013], Danao [2013-2016], Sonny Buenaventura [police officer and Duterte’s driver and bodyguard] and Bong Go), who in turn reported to Duterte. Duterte’s approval was required for DDS members to conduct killings in Davao City,” it said.

The alleged co-perpetrators, it added, powered over those physically conducting the crime, who felt they had no choice but to obey or risk “being killed” and or disposed of.

The former president is scheduled to face a four-day confirmation of charges hearing from February 23, during which ICC judges will determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to full trial.

Judges have already rejected arguments that Duterte is unfit to stand trial.

On Friday (February 13, 2026), the ICC also approved the addition of 500 more complainants to the case.

A former Philippine National Police chief, Dela Rosa was the chief enforcer of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign during the early years of the administration.

He has previously said he believed he could face arrest and has reportedly been in hiding for months.

A representative said they had not yet seen the prosecution document.

Re-elected in May in a landslide victory, Go served as a close aide and long-time political ally of Duterte.

He was a key lieutenant during Duterte’s tenure as mayor of Davao City and throughout his presidency from 2016 to 2022. Go has yet to comment publicly on the development.

It remains unclear whether any of the officials named in the prosecution filing will themselves face formal charges before the court.

19 murders (2013–2016)

Alleged killings carried out while Duterte was mayor of Davao City, where he is accused of acting as a co-perpetrator.

14 murders (2016–2017)

Deaths of individuals labelled as “High Value Targets” during Duterte’s first year as president.

43 murders (2016–2018)

Killings during so-called “clearance operations” targeting alleged lower-level drug users or pushers across the Philippines.

In a Facebook statement, Kristina Conti, counsel for several families of deceased victims, said it was the first time “significant details” of the ICC case had been publicly disclosed.

She said the naming of high-ranking officials showed that the deadly drug war “was crafted not only to ensure implementation, but to ensure impunity.”

“The involvement of those in the investigating units, which should have acted as the killings happen, is material to the plan. This also emphasizes that the ‘war on drugs’ began in Davao,” Conti said.

Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said on Saturday that the defence will prove that the allegations against Dela Rosa and the others were “completely lacking in truth,”

“None of these co-perpetrators are, in my opinion, currently subject to arrest warrants,” he told the Manila-based Inquirer.

“It flies in the face of prosecutorial logic to seek further warrants in the Philippines situation before the decision of the Appeals Chamber on the former President’s jurisdictional challenge.”

The British-Israeli lawyer was referring to the pending challenge to the Nov. 14, 2025, PTC I ruling that the ICC had jurisdiction over Duterte’s case.

The identification of Dela Rosa, Go and the others does not indicate their imminent arrest, human rights lawyer Kristina Conti told the Inquirer, adding that a warrant for any of them “will not automatically come from this disclosure.”

“It will be kept confidential in order to ensure enforcement,” she said.

“The OTP still retains some prosecutorial discretion as to who it will bring to court, based on its prosecutorial strategy to charge the ‘most responsible.’ So they could choose to go after any or all of those named,” she pointed out.

But Conti, an ICC assistant to counsel, said that it was “highly likely” that the ICC would issue arrest warrants against them. One of them, Cascolan, has died.

“[The theory of the OTP is that] this group of eight facilitated the scaling up of what was then a local antidrug campaign in Davao,” Conti said. “In this case, the nationalization of the drug war itself was what really took it to the level of crimes against humanity.”

Conti said that while the names of the co-perpetrators would likely be read during the confirmation of charges hearing that will begin on Feb. 23, they would not be tried in the same case.

Aside from Duterte, the ICC document identifies individuals as having authority over the triggermen.

The following are named by the ICC as co-perpetrators and their roles in the 'War on Drugs':

As Duterte awaits the outcome of the February confirmation hearing on February 23 in The Hague, the naming of sitting senators and senior former officials underscores the widening scope of the ICC’s investigation — and the possibility that accountability, if pursued, could extend beyond the former president himself.