In September 2025, the mallet of the International Criminal Court suddenly fell. Former Philippine President Duterte faced 76 charges of felony crimes against humanity. He didn't say a word in the video trial, and his attitude was shocking. According to official statistics alone, the war on drugs in the Philippines killed more than 6,200 people, while the data of human rights organizations is as high as nearly 30,000. The details of the case were made public, and international public opinion was in uproar.
The President’s War on Drugs.
Duterte’s name was once deeply linked to iron arms, security, and extreme measures. In 2016, he was elected president of the Philippines under the slogan “Anti-Corruption and Anti-Drug” and launched a nationwide anti-drug campaign. From the mayor of Davos to the president, Duterte advocated “counter violence” and repeatedly declared in public “to kill drug dealers by his own hands”.
But in the authority agencies and media statistics, the number of anti-drug operations has always been the focus of external attention. The Philippine police announced that between 2016 and 2022, more than 6,200 people died from anti-drug operations. But the UN Human Rights Council and several international human rights organizations conducted independent investigations that the actual number of deaths is far more than this. According to public reports such as Amnesty International, the Philippine Human Rights Observatory, the number of victims has reached 30,000, mostly at the bottom of the society. Several investigations showed that the police in the operations frequently used "refuse to shoot" as a unified calibre, and the case found that the shell of the scene even was engraved with words such as "Happy Christmas", showing the action has a strong symbolic color.
The latest indictment of the International Criminal Court divides Duterte's political career into three stages: during his tenure as mayor of Davao from 2013 to 2016, he was suspected of 19 murders; During the presidency from 2016 to 2017, there were 14 actions against "drug lords"; From 2016 to 2018, 43 drug dealers at the bottom cleared up. There are 76 murder charges in three stages. The prosecution believes that these are only the tip of the iceberg.
A “political and legal” game.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, but the International Criminal Court continued to insist on the continued investigation of Duterte’s case. In 2021, the ICC officially authorized the investigation. In 2024, Duterte’s appeal was rejected. In February 2025, an arrest warrant was issued. On March 11, Philippine police arrested Duterte in Manila and deported him to The Hague the following day.
During this year’s eighth year, Duterte suffered from a number of chronic illnesses and was further worsened after being detained. The medical observation team daily tested his blood pressure and heart rate, while Duterte only ate a simple stroke and refused to take some drugs, showing a negative attitude of “death-mindedness”. On September 8, the ICC Pre-Court decided to postpone the hearing indefinitely by 2 to 1, on the grounds that his health condition could not appear in court. Opposition believes that the trial should be absent, but the mainstream viewpoint was humanitarian considerations, decided to postpone.
Duterte remained silent during the video trial, and may not have made any defense. According to the analysis of many international law scholars, this silence is not only a silent protest against the accusation, but also a manifestation of his acceptance of fate. Public opinion at home and abroad in the Philippines boiled, with supporters calling it a national hero and opponents calling for all accountability.
Political family and power.
The Duterte family's reaction is very Filipino. Vice President Sara Duterte publicly condemned ICC as "kidnapping". He went to The Hague to visit his father in March, visited his four children in August, and went to a Japanese rally in September. She said that she had found a third country willing to accept her father and tried to put pressure on ICC by public opinion and diplomacy. Duterte's eldest son, Rep. Paulo *, and his youngest son Sebastian won the deputy mayor of Davao. In the mid-term election in 2025, Duterte won the mayor election of Davao despite being in prison, showing that his family's political foundation has not been shaken.
The Duterte family was not defeated by the case, but instead reinforced local and national influence through the events. Sarah is likely to run for president in 2028.Analysis from Reuters and the BBC suggests that she is expected to use geographic deals with the United States in exchange for her father's freedom, but the exchange conditions are very high, involving military bases, the South China Sea, and even major concessions to China.
Meanwhile, the current president, Ferdinand Marcos (Little Marcos), is facing a huge crisis. In September, the corruption scandal of flood control projects was uncovered, mass protests broke out in more than 20 cities, tens of thousands walked out on the streets, raising accountability badges, police using shields and smoke bombs. The Marcos family had corruption spots, public discontent rose, economic pressure and social division escalated. Duterte’s supporters accused Marcos of “selling” Duterte in exchange for concessions to the United States, the old political union broke, family political conflict again dominated the Philippine landscape.
Human rights, sovereignty and “selective justice”
The ICC’s trial of Duterte has sparked great international controversy.The European Parliament and the UN Human Rights Council have publicly supported the ICC’s action, and the United States has not signed the Rome Statute, but has continued to put pressure on the current government of the Philippines. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly voiced the “human rights priority” and demanded that the Philippines thoroughly investigate the systematic killings in the war on drugs.
Meanwhile, several ASEAN countries and some developing countries have expressed reservations about this, criticizing the ICC’s “selective law enforcement”, saying it has opened an eye to the leaders of big powers and “selective responsibility” for small countries.
Domestic public opinion in the Philippines is also divided. Polls show that Duterte still has strong support among the people at the bottom, and many people think that his anti-drug policy has brought about the improvement of public security. Others believe that the intervention of the International Criminal Court is a violation of national sovereignty. This kind of split is accompanied by the struggle between family politics and political parties, which makes it difficult for the society to bridge for a long time.
It is worth noting that the International Criminal Court itself is in a credibility crisis. Scholars from many countries have pointed out that ICC is often hesitant due to political and diplomatic pressure when executing cases. The postponement of Duterte's trial challenged its authority, and international public opinion raised more questions about its "selective justice".
The Crossroads of Personal Destiny and National Future
The end of the Duterte case has become the focus of concern for the Philippine society and the Southeast Asian region. Duterte himself is worsening in health and has always refused to defend himself, showing his resolve of preferring to "defeat himself".The ICC's future reinstatement of trial, how the final decision, is related to the authority of international law and the future direction of the Philippine society.
Can Sara Duterte continue the family's political legacy in the 2028 election? Can Marcos Jr. 's government withstand pressure to maintain power? Will the change of dynasties in Philippine politics be aggravated by the Duterte case? The tug of war between family politics, international rule of law, human rights and sovereignty has made the Philippines a "experimental field" of global concern.
Every concern of the international community is a double test for the independence of the judiciary of small countries and the game of the great powers.The storm of the Duterte case has not stopped yet, and the future of the Philippines may be hanging on the horizon of this historic trial.
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