The Hague — Royina Garma, a former senior police official who helped implement Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war, will testify against the former Philippine president at the International Criminal Court, according to sources close to the investigation.
The move marks a critical escalation in the ICC's probe into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the anti-narcotics campaign that left thousands dead between 2016 and 2022.
Garma, who previously served as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office under Duterte, has emerged as one of the most significant witnesses in the case. She reportedly possesses direct knowledge of the reward system that incentivized police killings during the drug war.
"A former insider breaking ranks is huge," said Carlos Conde, a Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch. "This isn't speculation from activists or victims' families — this is someone who saw the machinery from the inside."
According to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, investigators are in contact with multiple witnesses who can provide firsthand accounts of the extrajudicial killing campaign. Garma's cooperation represents the highest-ranking official yet to turn against Duterte.
The former president has repeatedly denied ordering unlawful killings, though he publicly encouraged police to shoot drug suspects and promised them legal protection. Human rights groups estimate between 12,000 and 30,000 people died in the campaign, though official figures are far lower.
The ICC's jurisdiction over the Philippines remains contested. Manila withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, but the court maintains it has authority over crimes committed while the country was still a member.
For ASEAN, the case tests the region's traditional reluctance to confront state violence. While the bloc's human rights body has remained silent, individual nations face growing pressure to address impunity.
Indonesia, which experienced similar anti-drug operations under President Joko Widodo, has watched the proceedings closely. Thailand's own history of extrajudicial killings during the 2003 drug war under Thaksin Shinawatra — which left 2,800 dead — has resurfaced in public discourse.
The ICC's investigation represents a rare moment of potential accountability for Southeast Asian leaders who have employed deadly force against their own citizens. Whether it leads to actual prosecution remains uncertain — the court has no enforcement mechanism and relies on member states to execute arrests.
But for the families of those killed in Philippines' drug war, Garma's testimony offers something they've been denied for years: official acknowledgment that the violence was not random street crime, but systematic state policy.
Ten countries, 700 million people, one region — and one test of whether justice can reach those who once seemed untouchable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
