ICC prosecutors seek to admit seven more witness statements on Davao, nationwide killings

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have asked judges to admit the pre-recorded testimonies of seven more witnesses who allegedly hold evidence of extrajudicial killings in Davao City and elsewhere in the Philippines under former president Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign, according to VERA Files.

The requests came in two separate filings before Trial Chamber III, less than a month before Duterte's trial is set to open on Nov. 30.

The first, a 12-page filing, covers four witnesses identified only as P-1136, P-1345, P-1391 and P-1404. The prosecution said they provide evidence on violence in the country before and during Duterte's presidency. P-1136 reportedly spoke about the targeting of high-value drug personalities and a policy of "neutralizing" local officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs. P-1345 and P-1391 described alleged police practices in carrying out killings, including planting shabu and firearms beside bodies, using paid assets, and giving incentives to officers. P-1404 discussed drug watch lists and how, through the Department of the Interior and Local Government, barangay captains were allegedly directed to submit updated lists monthly.

A second filing, dated Nov. 3, concerns three witnesses whose accounts relate to Duterte's time as Davao City mayor. "Their evidence primarily relates to the Davao Death Squad's targeting of alleged criminals," the prosecution said.

According to the filing, P-0019 described how killings were allegedly "normalized" in the city, claiming that people Duterte named as criminal suspects on his local television program, Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa, were later killed. P-1032 gave evidence on the alleged existence and makeup of the Davao Death Squad and on Laud Quarry, which the witness said was used as a burial site for victims of drug-related killings. P-1409 spoke of killings allegedly ordered by Duterte and rewards he purportedly gave to death squad handlers through Sonny Buenaventura, whom prosecutors describe as an alleged co-perpetrator.

The filings bring the prosecution's applications under Rule 68(3) of the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence to eight. The rule allows previously recorded testimony to be admitted as long as the witness remains available for questioning at trial. As of Nov. 4, the chamber had granted the first application and had yet to rule on the other seven, VERA Files reported.