ICC Prosecutors Ask Judges to Admit Key Davao Death Squad Witness Evidence in Duterte Case

By Kaeleb Savon Heck

MANILA, Nov. 6, 2026 — The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked Trial Chamber III to admit into evidence 45 transcribed interview statements and 61 associated items from a former Davao City police officer prosecutors identify as a member of the Davao Death Squad, a filing that arrives less than a month before former President Rodrigo Duterte's trial is scheduled to begin.

In a public redacted motion dated Nov. 5, 2026, Acting Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang urged the chamber to admit the materials under Article 69(4) of the Rome Statute. The witness is designated as "P-0002." According to ABS-CBN News and GMA News Online, both reporting on the redacted filing on Nov. 6, prosecutors describe the submission as evidence "of particular importance" in the case against Duterte.

The chamber has not ruled. The motion is a prosecution request, not a finding of guilt, and it does not resolve any charged count. What it does is put a large, already-preserved body of testimony and documents before the judges who will decide whether that material can be used at trial.

What the prosecutors want admitted

Article 69(4) of the Rome Statute lets the court rule on the relevance or admissibility of evidence by weighing its probative value against any prejudice it might cause to a fair trial or to a fair evaluation of other testimony. GMA News Online noted that this path differs from recent Office of the Prosecutor applications that relied on Rule 68. The Nov. 5 filing seeks admission under Article 69(4) first.

Prosecutors say P-0002 was "a Davao City Police officer and a member of the Davao Death Squad." The period of alleged membership is redacted in the public version of the motion, GMA reported. The testimony, according to the filing as summarized by both newsrooms, touches Duterte's alleged individual criminal responsibility and mens rea, the contextual elements of crimes against humanity during the mayoral period, and a specific charged incident.

ABS-CBN reported that P-0002's account details the origins, structure and purpose of the DDS and elaborates on "the scope of the Common Plan in Davao City and the role of Co-Perpetrators during the Mayoral period." Prosecutors further said the testimony supported the existence of a policy to target alleged criminals through financial incentives, the use of state and civilian forces, and the dissemination of that policy by Duterte to perpetrators.

GMA News Online added that, in the Prosecution's Trial Brief, the charged Incident 1 refers to the killing of three unidentified alleged drug pushers by DDS members in or around 2013 in San Rafael, Davao City. In that account, then-Mayor Duterte "instructed police DDS members that there was a job to be done against three alleged drug pushers." Those details are drawn from the prosecution brief as reported; they remain contested allegations for the chamber to evaluate.

The 61 associated items

To accompany the 45 interview transcripts, prosecutors want 61 associated items admitted for context. ABS-CBN listed the package as including 10 batches of handwritten notes, four affidavits, 34 photographs depicting alleged co-perpetrators, four organizational charts mapping DDS structure over time, Philippine National Police service records, personal identification, truck registration files, and legal documents on the possession and sale of the witness's assault rifle.

GMA's account of the supporting materials is consistent on the core categories: handwritten notes, affidavits, photographs, four organizational charts of DDS structure, police service records, and other personal and official documents. Together, the transcripts and exhibits are meant to give the chamber both narrative testimony and contemporaneous or identifying records that prosecutors say place that testimony in a usable evidentiary frame.

How the testimony was preserved

The interviews were not taken on the eve of trial. Both outlets report that prosecutors interviewed P-0002 across seven days from May 10 to 16, 2022, after Pre-Trial Chamber I authorized the sessions amid concerns that the evidence might later become unavailable.

ABS-CBN outlined the procedural background in more detail. On Nov. 10, 2021, the prosecution temporarily suspended investigative activities after a deferral request by the Philippine government. On Feb. 11, 2022, prosecutors sought emergency authorization from Pre-Trial Chamber I under Article 18(6) to interview P-0002, citing "extenuating circumstances" and "a significant risk that P-0002's evidence may not be subsequently available." Pre-Trial Chamber I granted the request on Feb. 18, 2022, finding a "unique opportunity" to interview the witness and appointing defense counsel to protect the integrity of the process.

Defense counsel appointed to protect the interests of any future accused was present during the interviews, along with counsel for P-0002, according to both ABS-CBN and GMA. Prosecutors argue the material was obtained through a judicially authorized evidence-preservation procedure, that it is clear and internally consistent, and that it was voluntarily given. The filing, as quoted by ABS-CBN, states that P-0002's evidence is "sufficiently relevant and probative to outweigh any prejudicial effect that could be caused from its admission to a fair trial or to a fair evaluation of the testimony of a witness or any other evidence on the record."

GMA reported that the filing says prosecutors were informed of a development concerning P-0002 in June 2024, with details redacted, and later states that "P-0002 is no longer available," without further public explanation. Prosecutors noted an alternative path under Rule 68(2)(c) for prior recorded testimony if a person has died, must be presumed dead, or is unavailable to testify orally due to obstacles that cannot be overcome with reasonable diligence. The primary request, however, remains Article 69(4).

The case posture heading into trial

Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity involving murder and attempted murder allegedly committed during his terms as Davao City mayor and as Philippine president. His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 30, 2026. ABS-CBN's Nov. 6 report included a photo caption noting that Duterte appeared at The Hague on Oct. 13, 2026, for a fourth case conference concerning those counts.

None of that schedule converts the Nov. 5 motion into a verdict. Trial Chamber III must still decide whether the preserved statements and associated items come in, under what conditions, and how much weight they can carry if admitted. Defense challenges on fairness, prejudice, or the reliability of preserved testimony are the ordinary next step once a chamber invites responses, though the public redacted filing itself, as reported, already anticipates fairness objections.

Analysis: why mayoral-era structure and intent evidence matters

Crimes-against-humanity cases often turn on more than a single shooting. Prosecutors typically try to prove a course of conduct, a policy or plan, and the accused person's intent and contribution. That is why material about origins, structure, purpose, co-perpetrators and a claimed "Common Plan" during the mayoral period sits near the center of this filing even when one charged incident is also mentioned.

Preserved testimony from someone prosecutors say was inside a police-linked death-squad structure is attractive to a prosecution for a practical reason: live trial testimony can be lost to death, intimidation, illness or other unavailability. The 2022 interviews were framed, by Pre-Trial Chamber I's own finding as reported, as a unique opportunity precisely because of that risk. If the chamber accepts the Article 69(4) path, judges would be admitting evidence already taken under judicial authorization with defense counsel present, rather than relying only on later live examination that may no longer be possible.

The counterweight is obvious and important. Admission is not corroboration. Redactions leave the public unable to see the full picture of P-0002's availability status after June 2024. Organizational charts, photographs and service records can support a narrative or they can be attacked as incomplete, mislabeled or taken out of context. Mens rea is rarely proven by a single witness. And Duterte, like any accused before the ICC, is entitled to a fair evaluation of the evidence, including challenges to how it was preserved and what inferences it can fairly support.

For readers in Davao City and across the Philippines, the filing also lands in a political and historical frame that the court itself does not decide in a preliminary admissibility motion. Local memory of the Davao Death Squad era, national debate over the drug war, and the ICC's jurisdiction fights are part of the public conversation. They are not substitutes for what Trial Chamber III must do under the Rome Statute: decide relevance, probative value and prejudice on a defined record.

What's next

• Chamber ruling: Trial Chamber III has yet to rule on the request to admit P-0002's 45 statements and 61 associated items.
• Possible alternative path: Prosecutors flagged Rule 68(2)(c) as an alternative if the chamber does not grant the Article 69(4) request in the form sought.
• Trial start: The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 30, 2026, on three counts of crimes against humanity (murder and attempted murder) tied to Duterte's mayoral and presidential periods.
• Open questions for the public record: The redacted June 2024 development, the precise scope of "no longer available," and any defense response were not fully visible in the Nov. 6 news reports reviewed here.

Until the judges rule, the filing should be read for what it is: a bid to put a large, early-preserved DDS-insider package before the trial chamber, not a conclusion that the package proves the charges.

Sources

• ABS-CBN News, "ICC prosecutor seeks admission of key Davao Death Squad witness evidence in Duterte case," Nov. 6, 2026 (6:31 AM PHT; updated 6:40 AM PHT): https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/11/6/icc-prosecutor-seeks-admission-of-key-davao-death-squad-witness-evidence-in-duterte-case-0631
• GMA News Online, "Ex-DDS cop's testimony sought by ICC prosecutors vs. Rodrigo Duterte," Nov. 6, 2026 (6:34am): https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/1008484/ex-dds-cop-s-testimony-sought-by-icc-prosecutors-vs-rodrigo-duterte/story/