Duterte drug war back in ICC spotlight after parliamentary committee hears claims his office paid police $17,000 to kill suspects

Accusation against former Philippines president increases pressure on successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr to allow access to international criminal court

A Philippines former police colonel has testified that Rodrigo Duterte’s office offered police up to $17,000 to kill suspects as part of his “war on drugs”, sparking calls for the evidence to be referred to the international criminal court.

Royina Garma, a former police colonel who had close ties to Duterte, gave the most damning evidence yet against the former president, when she told a parliamentary committee last week he had called her in May 2016, asking her to find a police officer capable of implementing a nationwide “war on drugs”.