PROSECUTION IS TRIAL-READY, ICC SHOULD CONFIRM CHARGES AGAINST DUTERTE
The hearings this week and the eventual trial are important for all Filipinos, as a way of composing a true and correct collective memory, and preserving a historical record of what should not be repeated again. The confirmation hearing is so important that victims and their lawyers, supporters, and advocates have travelled all the way to The Hague to be present during the hearings. We remain committed to seeking truth and justice for victims and for all people.
February 25, 2026
NUPL
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers is a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights, especially of the poor and the oppressed.

24 February 2026

After the opening statements and submissions on the merits of the prosecutor, The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), counsel for victims of the “war on drugs”, supports and concurs with the presentation of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the first day of confirmation of charges hearing in the case The Prosecutor versus Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

At yesterday’s session, the opening statements gave a peek into the arguments of all parties. The prosecution’s strong opening, along with today’s submissions on the merits, already give the judges substantial grounds to believe that Duterte committed crimes against humanity in the Philippines, on three counts.

What is necessary at this stage, is to only show that the charges proposed by the prosecutor are not wrongful or wholly unfounded. It is plenty obvious that the prosecution has more than presented a “reliable version of events”, or a “sufficient overview of the evidence available and the theory of the case” (as explained in the case of Prosecutor v. Kenyatta).

Victims of the “war on drugs” – those who lost family, liberty, and dignity, thousands whose rights have been violated – are confident that the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I will see the urgency of confirming the charges as proposed, paving the way for a full-blown trial after prompt and thorough consideration. Victims, ably represented in the hearing by appointed Common Legal Representatives of Victims, need the ICC to signal an end to impunity and its glorification.

The hearings this week and the eventual trial are important for all Filipinos, as a way of composing a true and correct collective memory, and preserving a historical record of what should not be repeated again. The confirmation hearing is so important that victims and their lawyers, supporters, and advocates have travelled all the way to The Hague to be present during the hearings. We remain committed to seeking truth and justice for victims and for all people.

Read more

In the Service of the Filipino People

In the Service of the Filipino People

NUPL Vice President Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen and Secretary General Atty. Josa Deinla with lawyers from the Kennedy Human Rights Center and Kerry Kennedy at the Capitol in Washington D.C.

Philippine Defeat in UN Security Council Bid Shows Human Rights Record Cannot Be Ignored

Philippine Defeat in UN Security Council Bid Shows Human Rights Record Cannot Be Ignored

The Philippine government finds paths only to new methods of repression and enforces the peace of the grave at home. Human rights monitors, including Karapatan, document a continuing pattern of violence: extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and widespread attacks on rural communities. On April 19, state forces killed 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental, including civilians standing in solidarity with farmers asserting their land rights.

On the Denial of the Petition Challenging the Terrorist Designation of Cordillera Peoples Alliance Leaders and the Constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act

On the Denial of the Petition Challenging the Terrorist Designation of Cordillera Peoples Alliance Leaders and the Constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act

The petitioners, all respected advocates for indigenous peoples’ rights and self-determination, sought judicial review of their designation as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) in 2023. Their petition constituted the first—and, to our knowledge, remains the only—as-applied constitutional challenge to the ATC’s power to designate individuals and organizations as terrorists under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Share This