ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider ICC chamber OKs easing of drug war victims' ID rule

ICC chamber OKs easing of drug war victims' ID rule

Published Apr 20, 2025 02:19 am

A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that it would accept various types of government IDs for the relatives of the drug war victims who seek to participate in the proceedings against former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity of murder.

ICC.jpegICC in The Hague, Netherlands (Marina Riera/Human Rights Watch)

The easing of the identification rules meant that the ICC would not limit the acceptable IDs to passports or National IDs, which Duterte’s defense team had argued for previously.

This was stated in the 20-page “Order on the conduct of confirmation proceedings” uploaded on April 17 on the ICC website.

The Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I agreed with the ICC Registry’s suggestion to consider multiple government IDs in the absence of passports and National IDs for individuals to be recognized as family members or relatives of the drug war victims.

The Registry provides administrative and judicial support to the Court.

“The Chamber considers that the Registry has provided sufficient information regarding

each document that it proposes to accept as proof of identity for victim applicants, including

the issuing entity and samples. This information, together with the procedure for admission of

victims to participate in the proceedings adopted above, already ensures the ‘reliability of the

identity verification process and significantly reduces the risk of fraud’,” the PTC said.

“In light of these considerations, the Chamber accepts the documents proposed by the Registry as proof of identity for applicants and those acting on their behalf,” it added.

Aside from the passport and National ID, the PTC would also accept the following documents: Social Security System (SSS) card, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) ID card or GSIS Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card, driver’s license, Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) ID, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) ID or OWWA e-card, Department of Labor and Employment card (iDOLE card), voter’s certification with dry seal, and even firearms license.

A senior citizen ID card, persons with disabilities (PWD) ID card, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance, Alien Certificate of Registration ID card, PhilHealth ID card, airman’s license; Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) ID card, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) ID card, and school ID or certificate of enrolment/registration with photo and the institution’s dry seal will also be accepted.

Other approved government-issued IDs and documents are Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) card, postal ID card, barangay certification, Seaman’s Book (Seafarer’s Record Book), police clearance, Community Tax Certificate (Cedula), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) marriage certificate, PSA birth certificate, solo parents ID card, and baptismal certificate.

The PTC also said that the recommendation of the ICC Registry to accept as proof of identity “a declaration signed by two witnesses and accompanied by the identity documents of such witnesses, which establishes the identity of the applicant or the person acting on behalf, or the relevant kinship” will be decided “on an ad hoc basis, upon receipt of the Registry’s assessment and recommendations.”

Earlier, Duterte’s lawyers argued that the PTC should only accept passports and National IDs as proof of identity for those who want to join the proceedings because “adopting a more stringent approach” will ensure that there would be no misidentification, double-counting, and the inclusion of false victims.

The confirmation of charges for the former president is set on Sept. 23, following his arrest in Manila on March 11. He was sent to The Hague via chartered flight and arrived there the next day, March 12.

The former president first faced via teleconference the PTC I on March 14 to formally hear the charges against him, as well as be informed of his rights under the Rome Statute.

The confirmation of charges is a pre-trial phase, wherein the Chamber will determine whether the court must proceed with the trial.

Related Tags

International Criminal Court crimes against humanity Drug war Rodrigo Duterte
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.