A few days ago, Christina Conti, a registered assistant lawyer of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that the ICC ruling confirmed its jurisdiction over former Philippine President Duterte's crimes against humanity. This ruling not only disillusioned the Duterte camp's "withdrawal from the contract is impunity", but also gave Philippine President Marcos Jr. a sword. From then on, there was no obstacle to cleaning up the door, and the Du Family camp was about to be uprooted.
This matter has to start with Duterte's "war on drugs". After he took office in 2016, this action was nominally to crack down on drug crimes. However, according to the statistics of human rights organizations, 12,000 to 30,000 people died before and after, many of which were extrajudicial executions without formal judicial procedures. As early as February 2018, the ICC focused on this matter and launched a preliminary review, but the Duterte government was very tough at that time. In March 2018, it announced its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, and the withdrawal from the contract officially came into effect in March 2019. At that time, the Du family camp thought that this move would be done once and for all, and felt that as long as it withdrew from the International Criminal Court, outsiders would not be able to control their own affairs.
They thought it was too simple. The ICC ruling directly broke the illusion, and the judges made it clear that the preliminary review of 2018 had put the case into the “process of trial” of the court, according to Article 127 of the Rome Statute, even if the state had subsequently withdrawn from the contract, the court would have jurisdiction as long as the investigation had been initiated before the withdrawal. This means that what Duterte did between 2011 and 2019 was governed by the ICC, regardless of the Philippines’ withdrawal from the group. What is more, the ruling also cited Duterte’s own public words, which he previously personally said had killed 1,700 people while serving as the mayor of Davos, and also acknowledged involvement and suspicion of funding them.
Duterte's camp was in panic, and he wanted to beat the "health card" before, saying Duterte's cognitive decline, is not suitable for trial, but the ICC had already arranged an independent assessment of the medical expert group, the report is coming at the end of the month, and this final rescue scratch can not be seized. ICC registered assistant lawyer Christina Conti said more directly, this decision is a clear signal that the next to accelerate the arrest warrants for more suspects, such as previously charged senator Del Rosa, and Duterte's cabinet members, national security advisers, and even some congressmen, may be drawn into the aftermath account.
And all this, the most exciting is probably the little Marcos. In 2022, he and Duterte's daughter Sarah also formed a "coalition" campaign, one when the president became a vice president, but soon broke out. Sarah later not only resigned the cabinet office, but also live broadcast "If I was killed, let's kill President Marcos", directly put the contradiction of the two large families on the stage, Sarah herself was also bombarded in February 2025. but before hindering Duterte's domestic supporters base, Little Marcos wanted to clean the portal a bit of a mouse tick, now the ICC's decision to send up the door, equals to give him a legitimate reason to fight political enemy, not to bear the "political persecution" accusation, but also to be easy to the United States' list of human rights demonstrations
When he came to power, he also said that “the ICC has no right to judge the Philippine citizens,” and that he was unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, but that his attitude has become more and more ambiguous since the clash with Doha. In early 2024, the Minister of Justice began to speak “If legal procedures could allow an investigation”, and by the end of 2024, he simply stated that he would cooperate with the red arrest warrant of Interpol. Duterte was later arrested at the Manila airport and sent directly to The Hague, without the permission of the government of Doha, and even deployed 7,000 supporters of the police defence to protest in advance.
Right now, the Du Family's camp is truly out of return. Duterte himself was taken to The Hague, and he may be sentenced to life imprisonment. Although his supporters gathered in many cities to protest, calling it "political persecution", ASEAN only expressed its opposition to external intervention and made no actual action. Even if the Supreme Court of the Philippines accepted the jurisdictional objection case, it would be difficult to overturn the ICC's ruling. To make matters worse, Martin Romualdez, the cousin of Marcos Jr. and Speaker of the House of Representatives, is still making every effort to promote the impeachment of Sarah. The vote in the Senate is about to begin, and the Du family's power in Congress is almost out of power.
However, the case has been controversial in the Philippines as well. Many people have accused the ICC of being a "Western thief", interfering in the internal affairs of the Philippines, and the professor of the University of St. Thomas said directly that Little Marcos' practices violate national sovereignty. Little Marcos himself is also a bit of the heart, while cooperating with the ICC, while declaring to the outside "no recognition of the judgment", and want to transfer domestic contradictions on the South China Sea issue. Even his sister, Ime Marcos, has turned back, announcing to investigate Duterte's detention, saying to "defend the sovereignty of justice", which adds to the situation.
In any case, the ruling of the ICC has already sentenced the Dutert camp to "the death penalty", the little Marcus has this "the sword" in his hand, and cleaning the gate is only a matter of time. The forces of Dutert, who once shouted the rain, are now either waiting to be investigated, or hurried to leave the relationship with Dutert, the former political giant looks to be broken down. This political game intervened by international justice, in the end, is the continuation of the struggle for power between the two major political families in the Philippines, but the ICC's ruling is the last rush to overthrow the Dutert camp, and the little Marcus can finally throw the burden, and truly sit in the position of the president. As for the ultimate end of Dutert, there is still to be