16/08/2026
: Nine years ago today, August 16, 2017, 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos was killed during a police operation in Caloocan City, becoming one of the most enduring symbols of the bloody war on drugs under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Kian’s death was among the thousands linked to Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, which was long criticized for alleged extrajudicial killings and widespread abuses. His case became particularly emblematic after CCTV footage and witness accounts challenged the police narrative that he had fought back (“nanlaban”) during the operation.
Today, as the anniversary of Kian’s death is remembered, Duterte himself remains detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. In April 2026, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber unanimously confirmed all three counts of crimes against humanity brought against him and committed the former president to trial. The charges concern alleged crimes committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians in the Philippines between November 2011 and March 2019.
The ICC has since scheduled the opening of Duterte’s trial for November 30, 2026, while proceedings continue to ensure that both the prosecution and defense are given the opportunity to present their respective cases. A new medical assessment is also underway to determine his fitness to stand trial and his capacity to meaningfully exercise his procedural and fair-trial rights.
Nine years after Kian was denied the due process that should have protected him, the man accused of bearing responsibility for a broader system of killings will be given the very process that so many victims were deprived of.
On this day, The Cache revisits its editorial, “An arrest long overdue,” first published in Newsletter Volume No. 2, Issue No. 1, as the former president’s case moves toward trial before the ICC.
EDITORIAL: An arrest long overdue
The evening of August 16, 2017, was, for many, as ordinary as any other night. But in Caloocan City, the peace was suddenly shattered by a series of loud, successive gunshots. A muzzle of a gun was pointed warily at the innocent, its smoking tip blurring the image of a youth and his dreams, once so full of life, now slowly losing the last of their breaths.
Kian Delos Santos never stood a chance. He was just a young man, facing the betrayal of the very people who should have protected him. No due process, just a person slowly slipping away in a dirty alley.
During Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, he once stood in front of the media. His body staunch and tone righteous, he promised that he was going to end the increasingly large range of drug related crimes in the Philippines. Later on, Duterte’s war on drugs became one of the things that many people would remember him by; whether it was remembered as lucrative, however, is a different story.
The war on drugs campaign was launched in 2016. On paper, the campaign should have a positive effect on society, it’s a pity that the ex*****on leaves much to be desired. According to official police records, more than 6,000 people died during the drug war, however, human rights groups stated that the number of deaths was closer to 20,000. That’s more than twice or thrice that of the victims of the twin tower attack of 2001, which was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history.
Kian was a young dreamer beloved by many before he became one of the drug war’s thousands of victims. From a warm teenager to cold numbers, his life barely started before it came into an unfortunate end. On the night of Kian’s death, the police were conducting a big operation under the war on drugs campaign when they came across the defenseless teenager. The police accused Kian of being a drug runner. With no basis aside from their suspicion, they attacked and gunned him down under the pretense of self defense, stating that he fought their arrest, and a drug and a gun was found on his body. This was, however, disputed by CCTV footage that caught the whole series of events.
This was the real face of Duterte’s war on drugs. It was cruel and with a sheer disregard to human lives. The victims of its state-sanctioned ex*****ons were almost always impoverished slum dwellers in urban cities, according to a field report done by the Humans Rights Watch. Often, these victims’ bodies would have gunshot wounds, knife stabs, and other traces of torture. To cover up these homicides, evidence such as guns and drugs are planted in their bodies.
Aside from the deaths of suspected drug users and dealers, there are also those killed in the crossfire, dead for just being at the wrong place, at the wrong time and whose deaths are not counted among those stated in official police records. These are the people who Duterte coldly calls "collateral damage”.
Other effects of the war on drugs campaign include the worsening conditions of Philippine jail facilities, where its already dire state plummeted due to the surge of arrests done under the banner of the campaign. The jails were overpopulated with a lack of resources and space to accommodate the prisoners humanely.
Despite this, Duterte’s administration did not fund new accommodations such as new jail facilities and humane drug rehabilitation facilities, which is contrary to its goal in virtually getting rid of the usage of narcotics and other illegal drugs in the Philippines. In fact, it boasts only on its use of force to brute its way to fulfilling its goals, with no care about the aftermath.
Efforts in speaking out against the administration’s human rights violations were met with ridicule by Duterte and his people and prominent critics of it were subjected to harassment and even arrest. Former Justice Senator Leila De Lima was made a prime example by Duterte. She was arrested under the guise of politically motivated drug charges in response to her criticisms of the war on drugs. She was silenced, along with others.
According to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for former President Rodrigo Duterte, there are reasonable grounds to associate him with such a widespread attack on these civilians. The warrant states that he, along with several others, conspired to kill individuals, including but not limited to those suspected of involvement in illegal drugs—a practice that began during his tenure as Davao City mayor and was extensively carried out during his presidency.
This practice is now widely known as the Extra Judicial Killings (EJKs).
Kian’s experience isn’t an isolated case. It was part of a systemic betrayal that led to many deaths, a betrayal led by the country’s leaders, where the brunt was borne by the common people and the ICC was moving forward in his and many others’ justice.
The ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Duterte is not without valid reason, it is an enactment of justice that has long been denied to the victims of the war on drugs and unlike the thousands who were gunned down on mere suspicion, Duterte will face due process under international law.
Irony is truly bitter. While the victims of EJKs were executed based on accusations alone, the man accused of enabling their deaths is being treated with the fairness that his policies denied to others. For years, thousands were killed without trial. The victims weren’t hardened criminals. Many of them were poor, voiceless, and afraid. People died. Families were destroyed and all the while, the killings were justified as “part of the job,” as collateral for the so-called greater good.
It was a pointless slaughter parading as justice.
Duterte’s arrest isn’t just part of a legal process, it is a beacon that will shine and be a symbol of hope. Power doesn’t just sit with those in positions, but it moves as the backbone of the people.
No leaders are above the law, and Duterte is no exception.
He must be punished as the key figure that ended the lives of thousands and affected many more. He is a disgusting excuse of a leader that used his power to play with the lives of others with no care and even less remorse. Rotting in prison for his crimes would be barely enough to pay for all the suffering he put into the country.
Justice moves slowly, but it moves. And for Kian, and the many others who lost their lives without due process, that movement means the world has not forgotten them.
