Bay Area activists demand accountability following Duterte’s ICC arrest for crimes against humanity
Organizers gather outside the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, Calif., for a global day of action on March 28, 2025, to demand former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte be held accountable for his anti-drug crackdown while in office. A previous action was held on March 14 in celebration of his arrest under an ICC warrant. Photo: Glenn Mercado
On March 14, workers, students, and activists from progressive Filipino organizations in Northern California rallied in front of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco to celebrate the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who faces charges of crimes against humanity. The mobilization was part of a “Black Friday” global day of action demanding justice and accountability for all victims and families impacted by his violent “war on drugs.”
Duterte was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11 and subsequently surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Authorities of the Republic of the Philippines arrested the former president and Davao City mayor in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by the ICC over his anti-drug crackdown. Duterte made his initial appearance before ICC judges via video link on March 14 in The Hague, Netherlands. A confirmation of charges hearing is scheduled for September 23, 2025, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to a full trial.
Human rights advocates say an estimated 30,000 people were killed during his 2016-2022 presidency. Many of the victims were from poor, urban areas, gunned down by police and unidentified individuals as part of a campaign targeting suspected drug users and sellers. Fueled by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the extrajudicial killings (“EJKs”), illegal arrests, mass surveillance, and forced disappearances also targeted students, activists, and journalists like Brandon Lee.
Bay Area activists demand former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte be held accountable for his anti-drug crackdown, which killed an estimated 30,000 people, during a global day of action on March 28, 2025, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Glenn Mercado
Lee, a Chinese American human rights activist, lived in the Philippines to defend Indigenous rights and lands from environmental and governmental degradation. In 2019, he was shot four times by the 54th Infantry Battalion in front of his home, which left him paralyzed from the chest down. Lee currently resides with his family in San Francisco, where he continues his fight for justice.
“My experience is that under the Duterte regime, there were a lot of killings in the rural areas, and especially Indigenous and impoverished communities, to permanently silence the people defending their land and livelihood,” Lee said. “Duterte's war has devasted so many people's lives. I would know. I survived an attempted assassination on my life, which caused severe trauma to me and my family.”
The systematic violence has only continued under current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with the continued support of U.S. military aid and the backing of the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations. U.S. support for Philippine presidents, even in the face of human rights violations, goes back decades. The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. received roughly $1.16 billion in U.S. military assistance over the course of his regime. In 2016, the Obama administration provided $90 million in military aid to the Philippines and an estimated $1 billion during Duterte’s eight years in office.
Attendees at the San Francisco demonstration voiced concerns about Marcos Jr.'s refusal to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the ICC. In 2018, Duterte announced the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC’s Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty that created the international court. The decision came just weeks after the ICC announced its investigation into Duterte’s potential crimes against humanity. Human rights advocates have urged Marcos Jr. to rejoin the ICC and hold Duterte accountable.
Speakers stand before a crowd during a global day of action outside the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, Calif., on March 28, 2025, demanding former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte be held accountable for his crimes against humanity. A previous action was held on March 14 in celebration of his arrest under an ICC warrant. Photos: Glenn Mercado
The organizations that gathered in San Francisco included BAYAN Northern California, the International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), Kabataan Alliance, Philippine Solidarity Task Force, Malaya Movement San Francisco, and the Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants (PAWIS).
Standing beside an altar of flowers, candles, and photographs, members of the Philippine Solidarity Task Force led a moment of silence and prayer for the victims of the drug killings and their families. Mia, an organizer with the League of Filipino Students at UC Berkeley, shared stories about students and Indigenous leaders the Duterte administration targeted. Among the names mentioned were Chad Booc, a volunteer teacher for Lumad children and member of the New Bataan 5, and Kian Delos Santos, a 17-year-old student who was shot by police in 2017.
"Justice should not be elusive for victims of human rights abuses. Justice should be served whenever an injustice is made, and Duterte's legacy is ridden with injustices against the people he was meant to serve,” said Caeli of Malaya Movement San Francisco.
The global day of action held on March 14, 2025, included an altar of flowers, candles, and photographs of people who were killed during former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called "war on drugs." Photo: Glenn Mercado
Duterte's arrest highlighted a double standard in the level of care provided by Philippine embassies and consulates, organizers shared. The Department of Foreign Affairs instructed the Embassy of the Philippines in The Hague to provide consular assistance to Duterte upon his arrival at the Rotterdam Airport. The Embassy supplied winter clothing and care packages to Duterte, the accompanying delegation, and the plane’s crew members.
Receiving timely consular assistance from Philippine embassies and consulates is not a common experience for Filipino nationals living abroad. Despite having one of the largest diaspora populations globally, organizers say the Philippine government has failed to provide prompt and sufficient consular support to overseas Filipinos in distress, such as those impacted by anti-Asian hate, the recent Los Angeles County wildfires, and the Trump administration’s mass deportations.
Ligaya Jensen, a Filipina migrant and mother of two sons, has spent over six years in immigration detention. She experienced exposure to toxic chemicals and developed cancerous tumors during her time at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center—a facility in San Bernardino County owned and operated by the for-profit prison corporation GEO Group under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In 2023, Jensen was transferred to the Eloy Detention Center, another private facility run by CoreCivic in Arizona. Despite contacting the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, Jensen has yet to receive a medical check and now faces imminent deportation.
An organizer holds a sign during a global day of action on March 28, 2025, in San Francisco, Calif., demanding accountability for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his co-perpetrators for the violence during the "war on drugs," which killed an estimated 30,000 people. Photo: Glenn Mercado
“Where is the support for the people? Why must we suffer when Duterte continues to be appraised, protected and cared for? The Philippine Embassy should be serving and protecting the people who make up the Philippines, not the bloody regimes,” Caeli said.
Although Duterte’s arrest is welcomed, advocates say it represents just one step forward in the larger pursuit for justice. Adrian, chairperson of BAYAN USA, concluded the program with a final message to the crowd:
”We will continue to fight not only until Duterte is put on trial, prosecuted, and jailed. We will continue to fight until these root problems in our society are uprooted and eradicated, until we have land for the tillers, land for the people, jobs for the people, and industry that can feed our families and not force people to live abroad.”
BAYAN Northern California and affiliated organizations reconvened alongside solidarity allies like Korean anti-imperialist organization Nodutdol for another gathering outside the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco on March 28, Duterte’s 80th birthday. Duterte supporters were also present but for a different global day of action, one with calls to “bring him home.”
Social media and print flyers promoting the action read: “No happy birthday for Duterte–only justice for the victims and families of his administration’s crimes against humanity.”