Nearly ten years after the Philippines’ “war on drugs” began, it is now defined by a striking contradiction. Former president Rodrigo Duterte is on trial before the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. Yet, according to rights monitors, drug-related killings linked to police operations are still being recorded across the country in 2026 under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The result is a rare overlap between international justice in motion and domestic violence that has not fully stopped.
The UN Resolution That Internationalized the Crisis
The turning point came in July 2019, when the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution led by Iceland calling for a comprehensive report on human rights in the Philippines. The vote was close, but the signal was clear: the drug war had moved from a national policy dispute to a matter of international concern.
Groups such as Human Rights Watch argued the step
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