Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s testimony before the November 13 House of Representatives quad committee investigation into the crimes against humanity committed in the course of his government’s “war on drugs” shows that he is already cornered and is only making the most out of his difficult situation by showing false bravado.

All the evidence that would indict him for ordering and funding the murder of thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of suspected drug addicts and pushers are already out in the open. It has always been clear to the Filipino workers and people and to observers of Philippine politics that Duterte is mainly responsible for the drug war deaths.

Duterte is making the most out of a bad situation by daring the International Criminal Court (ICC) to start its investigation into the drug war deaths immediately, taunting the court for acting slow, and stating that he is ready to accept a jail sentence if found guilty. While in power, he has after all been arrogant in ordering and justifying the murder of the victims of his drug war.

What else is left for Duterte to do? All the evidence that shows that he is responsible for crimes against humanity is out there. While in power, he was arrogant in ordering the deaths of the drug war victims. Now, he has nothing left to do but put up a brave front and try to arouse the empathy and admiration of his supporters.

While the confirmation by retired Colonel Royina Garma and other former police officials are welcome, various journalists and researchers have already pointed out long ago that Duterte created a reward system to incentivize the country’s police forces to carry out extrajudicial killings.

The rot in the country’s police forces has been deepened by Duterte’s drug war. We seriously doubt if renewed human rights education among police forces can remove the poison that Duterte has spread. Despite this, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr should exert all efforts to make the country’s police forces compliant with human rights standards.

It is important to point out that according to the University of the Philippines’ Dahas Project, drug war killings continue under Marcos Jr’s presidency, with 359 suspected drug addicts and pushers killed between July 2023 and June 2024, and 342 were killed the year before.

At the same time, Duterte is not only guilty of extrajudicial killings under his drug war, but also of the extrajudicial killing, harassment, abduction and imprisonment due to false charges of many labor and social activists in the country. He should also be held accountable for these crimes.