Catholic Church leaders, human rights advocates, forensic experts, and academics on Wednesday launched an independent truth commission to document extrajudicial killings linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign and preserve the testimonies of victims and survivors.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, launched at Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong City, seeks to establish what organizers described as a credible public record of killings carried out during the government’s anti-drug campaign, which human rights groups say left thousands dead during Duterte’s presidency beginning in 2016.
The initiative is backed by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, who said the commission aims to confront buried truths surrounding the killings and the suffering endured by families left behind.
The prelate of Kalookan said the commission seeks to uncover “the truth that was buried together with the people who were said to have ‘fought back,’” stressing that the phrase carried “a heavy weight” because the victims “were human beings like us.”
He described the body as “an independent and civilian initiative of the Church, academia, and civil society,” stressing that it would not replace either the International Criminal Court or the Philippine judicial system.
David said the courts focus on determining criminal liability, while the Truth Commission seeks to uncover the broader realities behind the killings by listening to victims, survivors, families, and others connected to the violence in order to understand how the abuses happened and how they can be prevented from happening again.
The commission is chaired by Raul Pangalangan, a former judge of the International Criminal Court and current dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law.
Pangalangan said the commission’s role would focus on truth-seeking and public documentation rather than prosecution, explaining that while courts determine criminal liability, the commission seeks to establish the truth “hand in hand with the victims.”
He said the commission would gather testimonies, hold hearings, and issue reports that could support local and international accountability efforts.
“We will fully document the testimony of the witnesses and the victims,” Pangalangan said. “We will have periodic reports that will, in the end, come out with the report of the Truth Commission on what happened during the almost one decade of the war on drugs,” he added.
Pangalangan said the commission’s findings could later support accountability efforts by state institutions and international bodies.
“We will issue our report and we will make sure that responsible government agencies will receive our report,” he said. “If they find materials in those testimonies that can advance their own investigations, for me, that will be a most welcome development,” he added.
Human rights researcher Carlos Conde, who also serves as the commission’s executive director, said the body’s documentation could help push government agencies to pursue accountability, stressing that “the end goal here is justice.”
“So if this compels the Department of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights, or the National Bureau of Investigation to use our documentation in future prosecutions, then we will be very happy to provide it,” Conde said.
Pangalangan also pointed to what he described as institutional failures that allowed the killings to persist, saying there was “almost a conspiracy of silence among government entities” that enabled those behind the anti-drug campaign “to have their way and exact such an immense toll on our people.”
Among the commissioners is forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun, who said the initiative could help strengthen forensic investigations and preserve evidence tied to the killings.
Fortun said the dead “still have something to say,” stressing that forensic science exists to uncover the truth behind violent deaths.
She said weak death investigation systems in the Philippines allowed many killings to go undocumented or improperly investigated, noting that in countries with functioning medical examiner systems, all deaths caused by violence would automatically undergo forensic examination.
Fortun added that forensic science is fundamentally about pursuing the truth, which is why she considered her role in the commission important.
Conde underscored the role played by journalists and human rights workers in documenting killings during Duterte’s presidency, saying the human rights community “would have struggled to document all of this” without media organizations and reporters who partnered with rights defenders in investigating the killings.
He added that without those efforts to document the violence since 2016, “we would not be here today.”
Psychosocial and trauma specialist Al Fuertes said the commission also seeks to address the long-term emotional and social impact of the killings.
Fuertes warned that trauma from the killings could become “transgenerational traumatization” if left unaddressed.
He said the commission would create spaces where victims, survivors, and former perpetrators could safely share their experiences, stressing that truth-telling must also involve listening to and affirming people who continue to live with the trauma of the killings.
Vincentian priest and theologian Daniel Franklin Pilario said the initiative also carries an educational responsibility, especially for younger generations who grew up during the anti-drug campaign.
Recalling his ministry in Payatas during the height of the killings, Pilario said they were burying “eight to 10 young men” at a time, many of them fathers and breadwinners.
“As a pastor and theologian, my stance was to listen,” he added.
Pilario said the findings of the commission should eventually reach schools and universities, particularly Catholic educational institutions, warning that silence about the killings risks allowing distorted narratives about the drug war to shape younger generations.
Citing Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti, he stressed that remembrance was necessary for healing and accountability, saying society “can never move forward without remembering the past” and must bear witness to future generations about “the horrors of war and violence.”
David acknowledged that the Catholic Church itself did not immediately confront the killings during the early years of the anti-drug campaign.
“It took a while,” he said. “But when we were seeing the dead bodies piling up — and mostly these were poor people who could not even afford a decent burial — my own perspective gradually changed.”
David said “the bigger scandal” would have been for the Church to remain silent in the face of killings and violence, adding that a society that does not care about murder and violence cannot genuinely promote peace.
Asked about funding, David said the commission had already received support from church, academic, and civil society networks, including international partners.
He noted that one of the groups backing the initiative was a German Catholic charitable organization that had also supported a truth commission in Guatemala.
“That is why we gathered the courage to move forward, because there is strong support from academic institutions, civil society, and church groups — both Catholic and Protestant — for restoring the dignity of our nation,” he said.
