Drug war ‘ground zero’ cited in ICC cases vs Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — One of the incidents cited by the prosecution in charging former president Rodrigo Duterte with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) was the “one-time, big-time” (OTBT) police operation in Caloocan, considered the “ground zero” of the bloody drug war.

That particular operation, conducted in 2017, is listed as Incident 20 under Count 5, wherein prosecutors allege that murders were committed by “Philippine law enforcement during Duterte’s presidency” against “low-level criminals, although some were not criminals at all.”

The details of the incident are redacted in the file titled “Public redacted version of ‘Prosecution’s urgent application under Article 58 for a warrant of arrest against Rodrigo Roa Duterte,’ 10 February 2025,” published on the ICC’s website on March 13.

Of the 17 other incidents listed under Count 5, 15 occurred in Bulacan, while two took place in Manila.

The Philippine National Police (PNP)’s OTBT operations became prevalent at the height of Duterte’s drug war during the early years of his presidency.

These campaigns aimed to apprehend drug users and pushers, most wanted suspects, illegal firearm owners and other criminals in one fell swoop.

One of the most infamous OTBT operations occurred in Caloocan from Aug. 16 to 18, 2017, resulting in the deaths of three students suspected of being drug runners: Kian delos Santos, 17; Carl Arnaiz, 19 and Reynaldo De Guzman, 14.

Statistics from the Northern Police District (NPD) showed that between the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2017 and the early morning of Aug. 18, 2017, Caloocan police killed 13 people and arrested 14. For the entire Camanava quadrant – comprising Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela – the death toll reached 81.

The killing of Delos Santos, who became emblematic of the victims of the drug war, solidified Caloocan’s reputation as “ground zero” of Duterte’s violent anti-narcotics campaign, despite the city ranking third in the number of drug-related killings in Metro Manila during the former president’s first year in office.

Caloocan has also been the birthplace of organized and grassroots-based protests against Oplan Tokhang, which gained momentum after Delos Santos’ killing.

A 2019 study by a former Kabataan party-list representative that focused on the ramifications of the drug war in three of northern Caloocan’s largest barangays – Tala, Camarin and Bagong Silang – concluded that the aggressive implementation of Tokhang left communities there aghast.

“After more than a year of saturating northern Caloocan with Tokhang raids characterized by almost weekly spectacles of dead bodies and arbitrary arrests, the trauma created by this violent phase of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs is reflected in the formation of an impression among residents that the killings victimized hundreds, if not thousands, of their friends, families and neighbors,” the study, titled “Tokhang in North Caloocan: Weaponizing Local Governance, Social Disarticulation and Community Resistance,” stated. — Janvic Mateo