Kin of EJK victim: Duterte’s words were deadly

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February 25, 2026 | 2:26pm

MANILA, Philippines — The families left behind by the victims of the drug war echoed the point made by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecution: former president Rodrigo Duterte’s words were lethal. 

The ICC prosecution side built up its case against Duterte on the second day of the confirmation of charges hearing, seeking to convince judges that there is sufficient evidence for the matter to be brought to trial. 

One of their key arguments had been to show that whenever Duterte said that there should be a killing, the deaths started to pile up. 

Rise Up for Life and For Rights, a network of human rights advocates and the families of drug war victims, spoke on the matter and recounted how Duterte’s words killed their loved ones.  

"Ang mga salita niya ang pumatay sa aming mga mahal sa buhay. Paulit-ulit niyang ipinag-utos na ubusin ang mga adik, at pinangakuan ng proteksyon ang mga pulis na sangkot sa mga pagpaslang,” said Llore Pasco, whose two sons were killed during the drug war in 2017. 

(His words killed our loved ones. He repeatedly ordered the wiping out of drug addicts, and he promised protection to the police involved in the killings.)

Pasco is currently in the Hague, Netherlands, attending Duterte's hearing. When the prosecution played a clip of Duterte joking about killing, Pasco called it chilling. 

Losing her two children was no joke, Pasco said. 

Emily Soriano also lost family during the drug war. Her 15-year-old brother Angelito was killed in anti-drug operations. She was emotional when the prosecutor described the case of two children whose heads were wrapped in packaging tape before they were killed. 

While it was hard to relive the pain, Soriano was glad that the world was hearing their stories. 

At least 6,000 were killed in the anti-drug operations, according to the official government tally.