Nearing the reckoning
The revelations from the International Criminal Court (ICC), at this week’s hearing for confirmation of charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, are of no surprise to Filipinos. They are simply a decade overdue.
I see this week’s livestream from the ICC as confirming and strengthening the people’s sentiments in the Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys done and published in Duterte’s time (see “Policemen as villains,” 3/2/19; “Human rights in the drug war,” 1/18/20). Several polls from 2016 onward showed widespread disbelief in the administration’s “nanlaban” or self-defense alibi.
Filipinos have taken Duterte at his literal word all along. He was fond of proclaiming in his speeches, during both his election campaign and his presidency, that his way to solve the illegal drug problem was by killing people, and killing not just a few, but many. To what extent this indiscriminate policy scared off drug lords and drug pushers, who can say? What definitely resulted was widespread fear among the people in general, and the poor in particular: “Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey: 78% of Pinoys worry about becoming victims of extrajudicial killings or EJK” (www.sws.org.ph, 3/1/19).
The people saw through Duterte’s attempt to clean up his act. In 2019, 60 percent said that then Vice President Leni Robredo—who had been appointed by Duterte as cochair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs—had the right to see the list of high-value targets (HVTs). When Duterte removed her from the post soon after, 49 percent agreed, and only 21 percent disagreed, that it was an implicit admission that his war was failing. (The names of a number of HVTs have only been disclosed in this week’s ICC proceedings.)
In 2019, 55 percent agreed with the move of the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the thousands of alleged EJKs in the drug war. Thus, most Filipinos rejected Duterte’s repeated attempts to paint the UN as “interfering” in our domestic affairs. Four SWS surveys in 2023 and 2024 showed public approval of the ICC investigation—which was not inconsistent with Duterte’s popularity as a president. After Duterte’s arrest in 2025, public opinion about the EJKs continued to be against him. The video clips from his speeches that were replayed at the ICC hearings will surely reinforce the people’s appreciation of the court. (see “Public opinion supports the ICC,” 3/15/25)
There have not yet been any SWS polls this year about Duterte and his drug war; our latest releases are in “The SWS annual survey review,” www.sws.org.ph, 2/19/26. With respect to holding Duterte accountable for the killings related to illegal drugs during his administration, they show, as of September 2025, that 49 percent agreed, 32 percent disagreed, 15 percent were undecided, and 4 percent said they didn’t know enough (DKE) about it.
They also show, as of November 2025, that news about Duterte’s detention at the ICC was being followed closely by 59 percent, just a little by 21 percent, not at all by 14 percent, and that 6 percent had just learned about it. With respect to the ICC’s ability to conduct a fair trial of Duterte, 47 percent had much confidence, 24 percent had little confidence, and 29 percent were undecided.
How do Filipinos feel about the co-perpetrators? At this week’s ICC hearings, the following were identified as Duterte’s co-perpetrators (Inquirer, 2/25/26): Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former chief of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO); Vicente Danao, also a former DCPO chief; Camilo Cascolan, former DCPO finance chief; Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, former Duterte aide and special assistant; Dante Gierran, former Davao regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation; and Vitaliano Aguirre, former lawyer of Duterte.
In November 2025, SWS surveyed whether “Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa should be held accountable for the killings related to illegal drugs during his time as Philippine National Police chief in the RRD administration,” and found that 53 percent agreed, 21 percent disagreed, 20 percent were undecided, and 5 percent said DKE.
As to whether “Senator dela Rosa should be detained in the ICC, if the ICC issues an arrest warrant against him,” the survey found that 44 percent agreed, 34 percent disagreed, 19 percent were undecided, and 4 percent said DKE.
The November 2025 survey did not ask about Go or any other co-perpetrator identified by the ICC. It is well-known that Dela Rosa has been absent from the Senate for about a month already, whereas Go has stayed at his post. How do the Filipino people regard these senators now?
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mahar.mangahas@sws.org.ph
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