By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
MANILA – The International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor has named eight incumbent and past officials, including Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go, and former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguire II, as alleged co-perpetrators in the killings that took place during the campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, in a court document dated Feb. 13, said detained former president Rodrigo R. Duterte and the alleged co-perpetrators “shared a common plan or agreement to neutralize alleged criminals in the Philippines,” as well as those perceived or alleged to be linked with drug use, sale or production through violent crimes, including murder.
Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, has not been seen in public since Senate sessions resumed in November 2025. He “disappeared” after reports surfaced that he would be arrested, too.
On Jan. 21 when he turned 64, he posted on Facebook that he is “alive and well,” “seeking for justice to emerge and take over,” and remains patient, composed and dignified.
Aside from Dela Rosa, Go and Aguirre, the others are:
– Vicente Danao, who served as Davao City Police (October 2013-June 2016); PNP counterintelligence chief (July 2016-February 2017); PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deputy director for operations (February 2017-November 2018); and Manila Police district director (November 2018-October 2019);
– The late Camilo Cascolan, who served as finance chief of Davao Region Police Office (2011-2012); chief of the PNP Directorate for Operations (July 2016-April 2018); director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) (April-May 2018); chief of staff in the PNP Office of the Chief of Directorial Staff (September 2018-October 2019);
– Oscar Albayalde, who served as director of the NCRPO (July 2016-April 2018); chief of the PNP (April 2018-October 2019);
– Dante Gierran, who served as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – Davao Region Director (2013–2016); and Director (2016-2020); and,
– Isidro Lapeña, who served as chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (2016-2017).
Also listed were unnamed members of the PNP and high-ranking government officials.
The prosecution said Duterte, Go and the law enforcement officials used the police from Davao City and non-police hitmen, together with the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), to kill alleged criminals during the mayoral period of the former president, covering June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2016.
“By means of their de jure and/or de facto authority, one or more of the Co-Perpetrators controlled a structure of power—the local police and related DDS hierarchy—that enabled them to control the will of the physical perpetrators,” the document read.
As mayor, the prosecutor office said Duterte “sat at the apex” of the formal police and city structures, with legal control over the PNP units in Davao City, as well as of non-police Davao City Hall workers and barangay officials, “who sometimes participated in or facilitated the crimes.”
So-called barangay handlers and police, it alleged, subordinated DDS members who were the ones who allegedly carried out the crimes.
“The handlers reported to a combination of police and Co-Perpetrators (in particular, Dela Rosa [2012-2013], Danao [2013-2016], Sonny Buenaventura [police officer and Duterte’s driver and bodyguard] and Bong Go), who in turn reported to Duterte. Duterte’s approval was required for DDS members to conduct killings in Davao City,” it said.
The alleged co-perpetrators, it added, powered over those physically conducting the crime, who felt they had no choice but to obey or risk “being killed” and or disposed of.
During Duterte’s presidency, meanwhile, the prosecution said the listed names “agreed to expand the common plan to neutralize alleged criminals” across the Philippines.
“In their new geographically expanded roles, the Co-Perpetrators controlled the will of the physical perpetrators through a mechanism that ensured their automatic compliance with their orders,” it said.
This mechanism, the ICC said, relied upon the alleged co-perpetrators’ authority over the physical perpetrators through the chains of command and payments, among others.
The prosecution, in the same document containing the charges against Duterte, said the former chief executive is “individually criminally responsible” as an indirect co-perpetrator for three counts of crimes against humanity:
Count 1: Murders in or around Davao City during the mayoral period by the DDS
Count 2: Murders of high-value targets during the presidential period
Count 3: Murders and attempted murders in barangay clearance operations during the presidential period
Duterte, taken to the ICC Detention Center in The Hague, Netherlands on March 11, 2025, will attend his confirmation hearing on Feb. 23 after he was deemed fit to stand trial. (PNA)
