When Rodrigo Duterte ran for president eight years ago, he vowed to order the police and military to find and kill drug users and dealers, promising immunity for such killings. Over the next few months, police and vigilantes mercilessly shot tens of thousands of people to summary executions.
Even now, two years after Duterte left office, there has been little legal reckoning with the wave of killings: only eight police officers have been jailed in just four cases, one of which was handed down this month . Although human rights groups say such killings have declined since Duterte left, and there are far fewer killings involving government personnel, a culture of violence and impunity remains disturbingly present in the Philippines.
In recent months, the legacy of Duterte’s so-called war on drugs has slowly begun to receive more official attention. Lawmakers are holding multiple public hearings on the violence. Senior police officers spoke at a congressional hearing, as did relatives of the victims, who relived their horrific experiences and renewed their pleas for justice.
When Duterte left office, his government said security forces had killed 6,252 people – all described by officials as “drug suspects”. Human rights groups put the total death toll at about 30,000.
Duterte is unlikely to face any consequences from congressional hearings; this week he was asked to testify before a jury but declined to do so through a spokesman, citing his constitutional objection to self-incrimination right. That has led many to look overseas, where the International Criminal Court is investigating the drug war and is expected to take some imminent action against Duterte.
Reymie Bayunon’s 7-year-old son, Jefferson, was shot and killed in Caloocan City in April 2019. She sued the police but said she did not attend the court hearing after being threatened by a group of officers.
Ms. Bayonon had a simple message for the Philippine authorities: “I call on you to cooperate with the International Criminal Court because this is our only chance of justice,” she said.
Although Duterte takes full responsibility for the war on drugs, he insists he will never be tried in an international court. He said there were three million drug addicts in the Philippines, adding: “I would happily massacre them.”
Six years ago he ordered the Philippines to withdraw from the ICC, which has declined to comment on Duterte’s investigation. It is unclear whether the Philippine government will force Duterte to surrender if he faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. The court cannot try the defendant in absentia.
Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., has appeared at times to backtrack on earlier promises to shield him from international investigations. In December, the Marcos administration allowed ICC officials investigating Duterte to enter the Philippines to work, according to an official familiar with the matter.
Among the cases the ICC is expected to focus on is another complaint against police in Caloocan, north of Manila. Less than three months after Duterte took office in 2016, a group of police officers broke into Marian Domingo’s small apartment and took most of the family out.
The last time she saw her partner, Luis Bonifacio, alive, he was kneeling on the floor with his arms raised. Her 19-year-old son, Gabriel, who stayed inside to plead for his father, was also shot. Later, Ms. Domingo saw their bodies at the hospital.
She has been filing complaints against the officials with the national ombudsman since 2017.
On June 18, a judge ruled that the four police officers involved in the operation were guilty of homicide.
The court noted the findings of forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, who examined Bonifacio’s body and told the court she found multiple gunshot wounds.
As the verdict was handed down, Ms. Domingo cried on the shoulder of one of her sons. Next to her stood four police officers, looking down at the floor.
“I thank the judge because I finally feel that justice has been served,” Ms. Domingo said after the ruling. But she added: “The ICC remains necessary because we need justice for every victim of the drug war.”
There are tensions between Duterte and Marcos. The current president came to power after an alliance with Mr Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte. But in the months since, things have changed. This month, Duterte resigned as education secretary in the Marcos cabinet. The Duterte family claims without evidence that Mr Marcos and his allies want the president to amend the constitution to expand his control of power. The two men accused each other of drug use.
As mayor of Davao, Duterte enhanced his law and order credentials. .
Just days after Duterte became president, freelance news photographer Vincent Go and others noticed changes. Mr. Go, who works the night shift in the Manila area, is called to 10 to 20 crime scenes every night, and violence has increased dramatically. Mr. Go always sees the same scene: dead ends, often without security cameras or witnesses. Rusty guns were often left next to corpses.
The government’s narrative of such cases is almost always the same: Faced with arrest, suspected drug users fight back and police are forced to shoot in self-defense.
During Duterte’s presidency, Mr. Go eventually documented more than 900 crime scenes. He shared photos of bodies with handcuff marks and other bodies with multiple gunshot wounds. He pointed to one and said: “He was shot five times in the head.”
“How could a man who fought back be shot five times in the head?” Mr. Ge said.
Dr. Fortun examined 109 bodies exhumed at the request of Catholic priest Rev. Flaviano Villanueva and the victims’ families. She said she saw multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.
“In other words, they were shot,” said Dr. Forton, the only pathologist in the Philippines who has examined the remains of those killed in the drug war.
During Duterte’s campaign, tens of thousands of people were arrested on drug charges. He has promised to hunt down ringleaders and other high-level drug traffickers. But human rights groups say many poor, working-class men and boys were among the dead.
Duterte’s camp reiterated that the ICC lacked jurisdiction in the Philippines because prosecutors only launched the investigation after Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the treaty establishing the court in 2019. Mr. Marcos’s views are unclear: In November, he said he was considering rejoining the ICC, but in March he reiterated that the ICC had no jurisdiction over his country.
“The remedy for the alleged victims is to file a complaint with the Philippine courts,” said Harry Roque, Mr. Duterte’s former spokesman.
On a recent Thursday, Dr. Fortun was trying to piece together what might have happened to Jay-Ar Jumola. Killed by unidentified man.
Pointing to a hole in Mr Jumora’s skull, she said: “This is suspected to be an entrance wound. The other thing that caught my attention was this staining, a green stain on the inner surface of the skull. It showed oxidation of the metal material.
Photographer Mr Go reported Mr Djumora’s death and found a witness who told him Mr Djumora was kneeling when he was shot.
“He saw blood gushing out and Jaya was begging for his life,” Mr. Gao said. “The police didn’t care and just shot him.”
Mr Jumora’s two half-brothers suffered a similar fate. In February 2017, 23-year-old Anthony Oddin was also killed by unknown men in Navotas. He was found with duct tape on his head and a sign on his body that read: “Don’t copy me, I’m a drug dealer.” Nearly five years later, 28-year-old Angelo Ocdin Shot in the back by four men in Tondo District, Manila.
Cristina Jumola said she now fears for her surviving children.
Speaking of Mr. Duterte, she said, “We want him imprisoned because he ordered the killing of innocent people.”
Maris Simmons Reporting from Paris.
