The International Criminal Court (ICC) released a public reduction version of a document containing the charges filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte before the tribunal.

The hearing for the confirmation of charges against Duterte scheduled on Sept. 23 was postponed after his defense counsel claimed that the former president was “not fit to stand trial.”

The document which was submitted by the prosecution shows that, Duterte was charged with murder and attempted murder because of the 49 incidents related to his war on drugs during his term as mayor of Davao City and as the President of the Philippines.

It noted that when he was mayor, Duterte and the "law enforcement officials used police from Davao City and non-police hitmen (together, the DDS or the Davao Death Squad) to kill alleged criminals."

"By means of their de jure and/or de facto authority, one or more of the co-perpetrators controlled a structure of power?the local police and related DDS hierarchy?that enabled them to control the will of the physical perpetrators," it stated.

"As mayor, Duterte sat at the apex of the formal police and city structures, with legal control over the PNP units in Davao City, as well as of non-police Davao City Hall workers and barangay (the smallest political and administrative unit in the Philippines) officials who sometimes participated in or facilitated the crimes," it added.

It also noted that during his "presidential campaign and the transition period" after Duterte was elected in 2016, "the co-perpetrators agreed to expand the Common Plan to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals through violent crimes including murder across the Philippines."

"When Duterte became President on 30 June 2016, he had de jure and de facto control over the PNP, PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority) and all other agencies implementing the Common Plan nationwide," it stated.

"Immediately after his inauguration, Duterte appointed co-perpetrators from Davao City to high-level national positions which allowed them to exercise control over the physical perpetrators," the document added.

It stressed that the attack against the civilian population in the Philippines was widespread.

"It (attack) was carried out on a large scale and frequent basis, victimizing a significant number of civilians over a broad geographic area and a prolonged period of time," the document said.

"During the mayoral period, it occurred in Davao City for a period of more than four years. During the Presidential period, the attack expanded to locations across the Philippines for a period of almost three years. The attack included thousands of killings, which were perpetrated consistently throughout the charged period," it noted. Robina Asido/DMS