The Tamesis
February 25, 2026
The Hague – The so-called “kill list” of drug figures that Rodrigo Duterte branded during his presidency led to the killings of a series of drug politicians and criminal suspects, including children and poor people, prosecutors told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday.
On the second day of the confirmation hearing, the prosecution’s trial lawyer Edward Jeremy cited the “PRRD List,” also known as the “Kill List” in media reports, to identify 59 people for whom Duterte was criminally responsible for murders and attempted murders.
This number includes the killing of 14 “high-value targets” between 2016 and 2017, as well as the murder of 43 people and the attempted murder of two others in police operations at the barangay level from 2016 to 2018.
READ: ICC prosecutor: Fear of Duterte led to killings
“The PRRD list is a death list,” Jeremy stressed, adding that Duterte has repeatedly boasted about his drug matrix.
Citing Duterte’s various public statements during his tenure in Malacañang, Jeremy said: “It’s worth pausing here and taking a step back… Here’s the president of the Philippines, the commander-in-chief, the most powerful man in the Philippines, pointing directly at a crowd and telling them to kill someone’s children… just because they might be addicted to drugs,” he said.
Jeremy also mentioned Duterte joking that EJK would make funerals a lucrative business. This statement by the former president led to the brutal murder of a 14-year-old child, who was later found strangled with wire and wrapped in duct tape, and whose body was later sold to a funeral home.
READ: Day two of Duterte’s ICC hearing sees more evidence
“Duterte was indeed not kidding,” the trial lawyer told the court.
Duterte faces three charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, with prosecutors accusing him of involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
Prosecutors said that was “a small fraction” of the thousands believed to have been killed in the “war on drugs” during his tenure as Davao mayor and president.
The week-long proceedings at the ICC are not trials but “confirmation of charges” hearings, allowing judges to weigh whether to proceed.
Duterte, 80, did not appear in court after exercising his right not to appear.
His defense team said he was in frail health and had cognitive decline. Prosecutors and the victim countered that he was healthy but did not want to face the victim’s relatives.
The court found him fit to attend but granted him the right to leave.
After Friday’s hearing, the court will take up to 60 days to decide whether to proceed with a full trial, usually with a written verdict.
Duterte’s defense attorney Nicholas Kaufman said on Monday that his client “absolutely maintains his innocence.”
Kaufman argued that while Duterte used “rants and hyperbole” in his speeches, he also often ordered authorities to shoot only in self-defense. /dl
