MANILA, Philippines — A fresh domestic investigation into widespread extrajudicial killings linked to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal anti-drug campaign is moving forward, with top former law enforcement official Ronald dela Rosa set to be the first person summoned for questioning, the country’s interior secretary announced Sunday.
Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. confirmed that dela Rosa — currently a sitting Philippine senator who previously served as Duterte’s chief of the Philippine National Police — will receive his summons on Monday. The probe comes after months of speculation that dela Rosa could face imminent arrest related to an International Criminal Court (ICC) case connected to the same killings. Dela Rosa has not attended any Senate sessions since November 2025, after reports of a potential impending arrest first emerged.
Thousands of mostly low-income, alleged drug suspects were killed across the country during the crackdown, which began when Duterte served as mayor of Davao City and expanded nationwide after he won the presidency in 2016. The wave of extrajudicial killings during police anti-drug operations drew widespread condemnation from global human rights organizations and Western governments led by the United States over allegations of systematic human rights abuses. In March 2025, the 81-year-old Duterte was arrested and transferred to the Netherlands, where he is currently on trial at the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.
dela Rosa has deep personal ties to Duterte’s anti-drug initiative: he previously served as police chief of Davao City during Duterte’s tenure as mayor, before Duterte appointed him to lead the national police force when he took the presidency. Both Duterte, dela Rosa and other former senior police officials have long denied any wrongdoing, claiming all people killed in the raids were shot after attacking or threatening responding law enforcement officers. Despite these denials, Duterte openly and repeatedly publicly threatened death to drug suspects throughout his time in office. A 2024 Philippine congressional inquiry already recommended filing formal criminal charges against Duterte and multiple high-ranking police officials tied to the crackdown.
In comments to reporters, Remulla clarified that dela Rosa has never been subject to a formal personal investigation as part of domestic efforts to address the killings. “All officers involved must be held accountable,” Remulla said. “Just to be clear, he was the tip of the spear in the extrajudicial killings drive, so we will start with him and investigate down further.” Remulla framed the new probe as a critical step toward national accountability for what he called “those dark years where extrajudicial killings became a state policy.”
To prevent dela Rosa from fleeing the country before questioning, Remulla confirmed that all Philippine airports, seaports and official exit points have been placed on high alert, and all domestic and international airlines operating in the country have been notified of the alert. He did not provide additional details on the scope of the border notification. Remulla also emphasized that the new domestic investigation is fully separate from and unrelated to the ongoing ICC probe into Duterte and the killings. Duterte ordered the Philippines to withdraw from the ICC in 2019, a move human rights activists widely viewed as an attempt to avoid accountability for the alleged crimes. The abuses under investigation by the ICC all occurred before the Philippine withdrawal took effect, so the court retains jurisdiction over the case.