FINAL TOLL
By the time Duterte left office in 2022, the drug war’s official toll had at least tripled. Police said 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations.
The Philippine government has officially acknowledged 6,248 deaths due to the anti-drug campaign.
But activists say the real toll of the crackdown was far greater, with thousands of urban and poor drug users, many placed on official “watch lists”, killed in mysterious circumstances.
Duterte was unapologetic in his defence of his campaign and says he told police to kill only in self-defence.
Families of some of those killed and human rights advocates later exhumed bodies, sometimes accompanied by Reuters journalists, and compared the remains with death certificates and official reports.
Dozens of cases showed violent deaths where the death certificates listed natural causes. In one case, the death certificate listed pneumonia as the cause of death, although the exhumed body had a bullet hole in the skull.
ICC INVESTIGATION AND ARREST WARRANT
In February 2018, the ICC prosecutor’s office said it would conduct a preliminary investigation into deaths in the Philippines.
Barely a month later, Duterte said he would withdraw from the ICC. The exit took effect in March 2019.
The ICC investigation was suspended in 2021 after the Philippines claimed it had a functioning judicial system capable of investigating and prosecuting alleged abuses.
However, in 2023, the ICC investigation was reactivated after the court said it was unsatisfied with Philippine efforts.
The current government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr initially said it would not cooperate with the ICC, but said in late 2024 it would comply with any arrest warrant, and its justice minister told Reuters in January the government was open to cooperate with the international body.
