Following the public appeal for “direct witnesses” by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), several Facebook pages and users claimed there are no pieces of evidence and witnesses on the alleged crimes committed under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. This is not true.
Statements from a ranking government official and a lawyer for the victims, as well as documents posted on the ICC’s official website, indicate the existence of witnesses who will testify against Duterte in the crimes against humanity charges before the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Other court records also show that the OTP has already filed multiple batches of evidence related to Duterte’s case.
On Jan. 16, an FB page reposted a graphic published by another page showing a screenshot of the ICC’s post on call for witnesses, and claimed in its caption:
“Ang weird no? May kaso… pero walang testigo.” (It’s weird, right? There’s a case…but no witnesses.)
Another user republished a Jan. 16 news card by Inquirer.net, alleging:
“So wlang mga testigo wlang ebidensiya bakit ipinadala sa ICC at nakakulong? Jusme BBM ano tong ginawa mo sa bayang Pilipinas
(So, there are no witnesses, no evidence—why was he sent to the ICC and detained? My goodness, [President Bongbong Marcos], what have you done to the country of the Philippines)?”
These allegations have been echoed and reposted by two FB users and another page on Jan. 17 and 18.
ICC’s renewed call for witnesses
The FB posts with untrue claims emerged a day after the prosecution called for witnesses to the “killings, torture and sexual violence” under the war on drugs campaign by Duterte between November 2011 and March 2019.
“The Office is appealing for direct witnesses to these incidents, including members of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies involved in these incidents, to come forward and speak with members of the Office,” the OTP said in a Jan. 15 FB post, which also has Cebuano and Tagalog versions.
The posts included a microsite link where the witnesses can confidentially provide initial information on Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity.
Reported witnesses vs Duterte
It is not true that there are no witnesses in the cases against the former president at the ICC.
Then justice secretary and now Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a Sept. 8, 2025 press conference that drug war whistleblower and former police colonel Royina Garma has agreed to testify in the case against Duterte before the ICC. He added that “the best way to protect her is probably for the ICC to meet her abroad because her life can be in danger in our country.”
In a Sept. 30, 2025 interview on One News’ Storycon, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Garma had been assessed and passed as a witness in Duterte’s case, describing her testimony “very crucial” and “very substantial” in proving the former president’s guilt.
During a House inquiry in October 2024, Garma claimed that Duterte had “called upon” her to “replicate the Davao Model” for his drug war campaign on a national scale, in which payments or rewards were given for the killing of drug suspects.
Earlier, Remulla stated that three to four witnesses set to testify in Duterte’s case in the ICC were being assisted by the Philippine government, noting “there will be more.”
“May mga taga-ICC na tumawag sa ating Witness Protection Program, doon nagsimula iyan, hindi ako ang kausap. In fact, I don’t even know them, I just let our [WPP] people handle it kasi nga confined ‘yan sa trabaho nila,” Remulla said on June 26, 2025, confirming that the Department of Justice was coordinating with the ICC on witness protection.
In a radio interview on the same day, Kristina Conti, an assistant to counsel at the ICC, said two witnesses had been confirmed for the postponed Sept. 23, 2025 confirmation of charges hearing. Conti clarified that these are different individuals from the witnesses Remulla mentioned.
In an Apr. 15, 2025 document, the prosecution said it intended “to call a maximum of two witnesses to testify viva voce“ at the confirmation hearing initially scheduled to start last year.
VERA Files has previously debunked similar false claims circulated in 2025 targeting witnesses in the case against Duterte before the ICC. (READ: FACT CHECK: ICC witnesses in Duterte drug war case did NOT withdraw, FACT CHECK: The ICC prosecutor DOES have witnesses on Duterte drug war case)
Multiple sets of evidence filed
The OTP, in a filing dated Dec. 24, 2025, notified the Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC I) that it had disclosed to the defense team a total of 1,303 items of evidence between July 7 and Dec. 18, 2025.
However, the prosecution noted that these pieces of evidence submitted after July 1, 2025 would not be used for the confirmation of charges hearings, which have yet to be rescheduled by the ICC.
Between March 24 and July 4, 2025, the ICC Prosecutor also submitted 12 batches of evidence, each comprising hundreds to thousands of items. These include the first set of evidence containing 181 items, which served as the basis for the issuance of the warrant of arrest against Duterte by the ICC.
The five false posts published over the past few days by FB pages and users, including page OPTIC Politics (created on March 30, 2024) and user Boss Dada (Oct. 12, 2024), have collectively amassed 30,256 reactions, 13,010 comments and 1,844 shares as of writing.
