The International Criminal Court has focused its war crimes investigation against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on a documented policy directive ordering law enforcement to "kill them all" in the country's bloody drug war, according to documents obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The policy document, issued during Duterte's presidency, explicitly instructed police and security forces to execute suspected drug dealers and users without trial. The directive forms the centerpiece of the ICC's case examining extrajudicial killings that claimed an estimated 7,000 to 30,000 lives between 2016 and 2022, according to human rights organizations.
The investigation tests the limits of ASEAN's non-interference principle, the bedrock of Southeast Asian diplomacy that has shielded member states from external accountability for decades. Manila's current government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. faces a delicate balancing act: cooperating with international justice mechanisms while maintaining regional solidarity.
"This case represents the first time an ASEAN leader faces ICC prosecution for domestic policies," said Carlos Conde, a Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The precedent could reshape how the region handles sovereignty versus accountability."
The Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC in 2019 under Duterte, but the court maintains jurisdiction over crimes committed before the withdrawal took effect. The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber has not yet ruled on whether to issue an arrest warrant, though prosecutors have submitted evidence including witness testimony, forensic reports, and the policy documents.
Regional observers note the case's timing coincides with Manila's deepening security alignment with Washington and deteriorating relations with Beijing. Marcos has signaled a more cooperative stance toward international institutions than his predecessor, though he has stopped short of endorsing the ICC investigation.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has remained conspicuously silent on the case, adhering to its longstanding practice of avoiding comment on members' internal affairs. But legal experts say the investigation forces the ten-nation bloc to confront whether its consensus-based approach can coexist with evolving international human rights norms.
For the families of the estimated thousands killed in the drug war, many of them poor residents of Manila's densely packed slums, the ICC investigation represents the first formal accountability mechanism. Local courts have struggled to prosecute cases, with witnesses frequently intimidated and evidence suppressed.
Ten countries, 700 million people, one region — and for the first time, one of its leaders may face international justice for policies that turned city streets into killing fields. The question is whether ASEAN's consensus model can survive that reckoning.
