ICC prosecution cites Espinosa, Parojinog, Kian killings on Day 2 of confirmation of charges

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor and trial lawyer Edward Jeremy on Tuesday cited the killings of then Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, and 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos at the height of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

Jeremy made the presentation during the second day of the confirmation of charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, which the 80-year-old Duterte skipped.

“Just as he did in Davao, as president, Mr. Duterte publicly named persons he alleged were involved in drugs. And many of those would end up as victims in his so-called war on drugs,” he said.

He cited Duterte’s press conference in Davao in August 2016, where he named 150 public officials who he claimed were involved in the drug trade.

“This included Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa and Ozamiz Mayor Reynaoldo Parajinog as well as various members of the Parajinog family,” he added.

The ICC trial lawyer showed clips of Duterte’s speeches to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I.

“‘Wherever you go, I will be waiting for you, even if I’m no longer President, as long as I have a gun.’ Indeed, Mr. Duterte did not need to wait long. On the 5th of November 2016, Mayor Espinosa was murdered,” Jeremy said, quoting Duterte.

“That’s charged incident 13. Then on the 30th of July 2017, Mayor Parajinog, together with a number of others were also murdered. That’s charged incident 14,” he added.

On November 5, 2016, Espinosa and drug suspect Raul Yap were killed in an alleged shootout inside the Baybay City Provincial Jail. Espinosa was then arrested for drug-related charges.

On July 30, 2017, Parojinog and several others were killed in a predawn drug raid at the Parojinog family compound.

Months later on August 16, 2017, delos Santos, then 17, was shot by police officers conducting an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City.

In a 40-page decision in December 2025, the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed the murder conviction of three cops for the killing of delos Santos.

According to Jeremy, Duterte, in the same speech, emphasized his “direct involvement” in the preparation of the list and said he was the “sole person responsible for this all.”

“And this list was subsequently published by the media. He referred to this as the narco-list or as we see from the article on our screens, the Duterte list. And Mr. Duterte continued to flaunt his list of high-value targets,” Jeremy said.

The ICC trial lawyer also showed a speech of Duterte promising the military that he would back them up. He also assured that while he is President, no military man or cop would go to prison.

Aside from this, Jeremy showed an article where Duterte said he will promote state forces if they massacre criminals. He said Duterte also told soldiers that he would never order them to do anything illegal.

“And this was the pattern. Out of one side of his mouth, quietly, occasionally, he would speak about self-defense. This was Mr. Duterte, the lawyer, keenly aware of his own legal jeopardy, especially once he was no longer President,” he said.

“And on the other side of his mouth, loudly, frequently, he would say kill and I would protect you, I will pardon you, and I will promote you. And this was Mr. Duterte, the strongman President,” he added.

He also cited the killing of 32 individuals in Bulacan during a one-time big-time operation. He said Duterte welcomed the news, saying that if another 32 people would be killed every day after, the government may cure what ails the country.

Jeremy said the killings went on and on. He then cited the killing of Delos Santos in 2017.

“As usual, the police claimed that Kian Delos Santos shot at them and they were forced to shoot him dead in self defense. Another victim blamed for his death,” he said.

“This account is contradicted by CCTV footage showing police dragging the child across the ground. And other evidence shows that after pleading for his life, he was shot twice in the head,” he added.

He said the incident caused public outcry, forcing Duterte to withdraw anti-drug police operations. Jeremy said this led to a reduction in killings.

“In announcing his temporary withdrawal, Mr. Duterte sarcastically stated that he hoped this would satisfy ‘bleeding hearts’ in the media. In this way, he publicly communicated that this was not a genuine effort to prevent crime, but rather a temporary attempt to placate public criticism,” he said.

Two months later, Duterte resumed police operations, according to Jeremy, and that children continued to be victims of the killing.

Jeremy then showed a speech of Duterte pointing to the crowd and telling them to kill the children of other people who are addicted to drugs. 

“This is the President of the Philippines, the commander-in-chief, the most powerful man in the Philippines. He’s pointing directly at the crowd and he’s telling them to kill someone else’s child,” he said.

“Kill them, not because they are an alleged drug lord, not even an alleged criminal, but because they may have an addition to drugs,” he added,

He said this may be an example of what the defense described as Duterte speaking “openly from the heart, sincerely, and truthfully.”

Following this, he played a clip of Duterte, in which he said funeral homes would make a lot of money. 

“Your honors, dead children, police ensuring that funeral homes made money, Mr. Duterte was indeed not joking,” he said.

On Monday, the ICC read the charges against Duterte.

READ: DAY IN COURT: ICC Hearings on the Charges vs. Duterte

Today’s hearings are ongoing, while the next hearings will be on February 26 and February 27. — JMA, GMA Integrated News