Camille Naredo

A man holds a portrait of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will be appearing, in The Hague on March 14, 2025. Nicolas Tucat, AFP/File

A man holds a portrait of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will be appearing, in The Hague on March 14, 2025. Philippine ex-president Rodrigo Duterte was expected to make his first appearance at the International Criminal Court on March 14, to face crimes against humanity charges over his deadly narcotics crackdown. The 79-year-old was set to appear before judges for a short hearing where he is to be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

Article (news)

DUTERTE ICC

Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1771847346586AFP__20250314__372B2JW__v1__Preview__NetherlandsPhilippinesJustice.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A man holds a portrait of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will be appearing, in The Hague on March 14, 2025. Nicolas Tucat, AFP/File" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A man holds a portrait of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he will be appearing, in The Hague on March 14, 2025. <em>Nicolas Tucat, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — The defense team of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte urged the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I to dismiss the charges against him, which they consider as &quot;grievously misplaced&quot; and &quot;politically-motivated.&quot; </p><p>&quot;... We hope that when you conclude your deliberations, Your Honors, that you&#x27;ll dismiss these grievously misplaced and politically motivated charges. We will ask you to send Rodrigo Duterte back to his family, and we will ask you to give back to the Filipino people their Tatay Digong,&quot; Duterte&#x27;s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said during his opening statement on Monday&#x27;s confirmation of charges hearing. </p><p>Kaufman acknowledged that his client was &quot;a unique phenomenon&quot; who was &quot;gung-ho in his ways&quot; and was full of &quot;hyperbole, bluster and rhetoric.&quot; </p><p>&quot;Gung-ho in his ways and with a belligerent tone, he spoke the tough tongue of the street. He said what the people wanted to hear, but he said it in a way that offended the sensibilities of world leaders unaccustomed to hearing it. One in particular, and that was what set him on the slippery slope to a prison cell in The Hague,&quot; Kaufman said. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/23/icc-opens-duterte-confirmation-of-charges-hearings-1718">READ: ICC prosecution lays down evidence vs Duterte in first pre-trial hearing</a> </div><p>However, he accused the prosecution of &quot;cherry-picking&quot; through Duterte&#x27;s speeches, adding that many of them insist on the importance of sticking to the law.</p><p> The former president&#x27;s speeches did not have &quot;lethal intent&quot; but aimed to &quot;instill fear in the hearts&quot; of criminals, said the lawyer. </p><p>&quot;Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s language was aimed not at suspected drug pushers, as the prosecution would have it, but directly at those poisoning society with their substances, and not, I stress, with lethal intent. His rhetoric was calculated to arouse fear and obedience, to instill fear in their hearts, and to inculcate a respect for the law in their minds. Nothing more, nothing less. That was his intent, and it was not criminal. He stands by his legacy resolutely, and he maintains his innocence absolutely,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;We will show you that the paltry number of speeches on which the prosecution rely  do not manifest criminal intent. We will also convince you that as hard as they tried, the prosecution&#x27;s investigators couldn&#x27;t get even one of its criminal cooperating witnesses, whose reliability is next to zero, to admit that they heard the former president Rodrigo Duterte give an order to kill at any time relevant to the charges,&quot; Kaufman added.</p><div> </div><div><strong>&#x27;MARCOS JR. OUT TO NEUTRALIZE DUTERTE&#x27; </strong></div><p>In his statement, Kaufman reiterated the defense&#x27;s claim that Duterte&#x27;s arrest was unconstitutional, even accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., of breaking his promise that he will not work with the ICC. </p><p>&quot;Your Honors, Rodrigo Duterte was, and will always remain a unique phenomenon. His style of statesmanship was novel, and unpalatable to many. His expletives and hyperbole created, while his honesty and wild popularity irritated. He spoke openly, from the heart, sincerely, and truthfully, and what a contrast between him and his successor in the Malacañang. For President Rody, his word is his word, and the people knew it. For President Bongbong, his word is for the wind, and the people will not forget it,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;As we know, he failed to keep that promise. Rodrigo Duterte was unconstitutionally and unceremoniously hauled off to The Hague. So it is indeed the Defense&#x27;s case, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. set out to neutralize Rodrigo Duterte and his legacy,&quot; Kaufman added.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/23/kaufman-says-marcos-set-out-to-neutralize-duterte-and-his-legacy-2114">READ: Kaufman says Marcos set out to &#x27;neutralize&#x27; Duterte and his legacy</a></div><p>Kaufman likewise argued that even without Duterte&#x27;s administration and his campaign against illegal drugs, the number of casualties in drug-related crimes would be the same due to the Philippines&#x27; location as a &quot;transit hub for trafficking of narcotics&quot; from China. </p><p>&quot;The scourge of illegal narcotics is not unique to the Philippines. As we all know, it afflicts Latin America, where I can name three countries where the death rate at the hands of vigilantes and law enforcement agents per capita is higher than it ever was under Duterte,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;The Philippines as a country is uniquely positioned to act as a transit hub for the trafficking of narcotics emanating from the cartels in China, and with, or without Duterte, so we argue, the death rate would have kept on rising. Indeed, as we will prove with statistics and reports, the death rate flowing from narcotics-related crime actually increased after Rodrigo Duterte left power,&quot; Kaufman added.</p><div> </div><div><strong>MEDIA, CIVIL SOCIETY </strong></div><p>Kaufman also blamed how the media portrayed Duterte, arguing that influential and powerful people have controlled the narrative. </p><p>&quot;It starts with the media, controlled by the powerful and the politically-influential. With a sensational headline and a twisted editorial slant, the moguls sell their papers while promoting the partisan agenda of their backers in power. They highlight the salacious content while ignoring the true context because that is what captivates the reader,&quot; he said. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/23/victims-counsel-warns-of-risks-if-charges-against-duterte-are-not-confirmed-1900">READ: Victims&#x27; counsel warns of risks if charges against Duterte are not confirmed</a></div><p>This image eventually attracted the attention of non-government organizations and human rights activists, or the civil society, who then became interested in the Philippines. </p><p>&quot;These people descended upon the Philippines to advance an agenda even more lacking of objectivity than that of the media. And heavily-funded by tycoons with even grander designs, they print their glossy reports, replete with iconic photographic images of grieving families, and dead bodies in rain-swept night time crime scenes, all dramatically illuminated with a fluorescent glow of neon. Images, carefully crafted to shock the conscience and sway the emotions, and, I may say, to be used by the prosecutor when they don&#x27;t even relate to the charges,&quot; Kaufman argued. </p><p>According to Kaufman, the charges against his client should be verified based on evidence, and not on &quot;spicy gossip&quot; and &quot;political rhetoric and bluster&quot;. </p><p>&quot;This court has convened a confirmation of charges hearing to verify whether substantial grounds exist to believe that Rodrigo Duterte, the people&#x27;s president, together with various so-called co-perpetrators, over the years of his governance, devised a criminal policy of wholesale and wanton murder,&quot; Kaufman said. </p><p>&quot;And since we are in a court of law, it is worth stressing, although I should not have to, cases are decided on the basis of evidence, not supposition, not rumor, not spicy gossip, and certainly not on the basis of political rhetoric and bluster, because at the end of the day, were it not for those belligerent and controversial speeches, there would have been no impetus to bring the people&#x27;s president to The Hague,&quot; he added.</p><div> </div><div><strong>REP. DUTERTE QUESTIONS ICC JURISDICTION ANEW </strong></div><p>In a separate statement, Rep. Paolo Duterte questioned the ICC&#x27;s jurisdiction over the Philippines anew as it starts its confirmation of charges against his father. </p><p>&quot;Kung justice talaga ang hanap nila, sana una nilang tanungin—may hurisdiksyon ba kayo? Pangalawa, kung may hurisdiksyon man kayo, crimes against humanity na pala ang pagsugpo ng kriminalidad sa sariling bayan?&quot; he said. </p><p>(If you are really looking for justice, maybe the first question should be, do you have jurisdiction over us? Second, if you have jurisdiction over us, is fighting criminality in our own country considered crimes against humanity?) </p><p>&quot;Because last time we checked, the Philippines already left the Rome Statute. But apparently, sa ICC, optional lang ang sovereignty—depende kung sino ang target,&quot; he added. </p><p>(Because last time we checked, the Philippines already left the Rome Statute. But apparently, in the ICC, sovereignty is optional, it depends on who&#x27;s the target.) </p><p>The younger Duterte likewise questioned the independence of the ICC. </p><p>&quot;Independent kuno—but funny how the targets are always leaders who refuse to bow, refuse to be lectured, and refuse to play nice with Western interests. Under whose supervision? Well, people can draw their own conclusions,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Nakakatawa pa, they claim to speak for &#x27;victims,&#x27; pero they completely ignore the millions of Filipinos who finally felt safe when crime, drugs, and lawlessness were confronted head-on. Those victims don&#x27;t count, apparently. Hindi sila pasok sa narrative,&quot; Rep. Duterte added. </p><p>(What&#x27;s funny, they claim to speak for victims, but they completely ignore the millions of Filipinos who finally felt safe when crime, drugs, and lawlessness were confronted head-on. Those victims don&#x27;t count, apparently. They are not included in the narrative.) </p><p>Rep. Duterte even accused ICC of having double standards, because it did not investigate the crimes of the Aquino family connected to the Hacienda Luisita, but it considered the war on drugs as &quot;crimes against humanity&quot;. </p><p>&quot;Let&#x27;s call this what it is—not justice, not accountability, but selective prosecution dressed up as moral superiority,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Former President Duterte did not govern for foreign approval. He governed for Filipinos—especially those who lived in fear long before air-conditioned courtrooms started moralizing from thousands of kilometers away. This hearing will not change history,&quot; he added.</p><p><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/20/icc-confirmation-of-charges-hearing-to-proceed-without-duterte-1724">Duterte was not present at his confirmation of charges hearing</a> after the ICC granted his request to waive his right to attend, where he said he refuses to recognize the court&#x27;s jurisdiction over his case.  </p><p>He is facing three counts of crimes against humanity over the alleged killings committed from 2011 to 2019, covering his terms as Davao City mayor and as president.  </p><div><strong>-- with Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hJTx5L0eIh4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte "absolutely" maintains his innocence, his defense lawyer told the International Criminal Court, as a pre-trial hearing against him opened on Monday.</p>

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte "absolutely" maintains his innocence, his defense lawyer told the International Criminal Court, as a pre-trial hearing against him opened on Monday.

'Give Tatay Digong back to Filipinos': Defense urges dismissal of 'politically-motivated charges'

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'Give Tatay Digong back to Filipinos': Defense urges dismissal of 'politically-motivated charges'

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 23, 2026 07:49 PM PHT

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Updated February 25, 2026 08:24 AM PHT

Read More:

Duterte ICC

Rodrigo Duterte

International Criminal Court

ICC

Nicholas Kaufman

war on drugs

crime against humanity

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