Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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Rowegie Abanto

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/1772167431587photo-collage.png_cropped_processed_by_imagy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc and Defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman during the first session of the confirmation of charges hearings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on February 23, 2026. ICC Handout</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s defense team had the entire third day of his pre-trial hearing at the International Criminal Court to present counterarguments against the prosecution&#x27;s evidence for charging the former President with crimes against humanity over his drug war.</p><div><br/></div><div><u><strong>Here are the highlights of the presentation of Duterte&#x27;s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman.</strong></u></div><div><u></u><br/></div><p><u><strong></strong></u><strong></strong><strong></strong><strong>1. </strong>Kaufman criticized the prosecution for allegedly cherry-picking 20 of Duterte&#x27;s speeches, which contained the ex-leader&#x27;s &quot;kill&quot; rhetoric, to prove his criminal intent for the alleged extrajudicial killings. The lawyer said at least 10 of Duterte&#x27;s speeches as president contained &quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/defense-brings-out-duterte-speeches-with-exhortation-to-lawful-use-of-self-defense-1855">an exhortation to the use of lawful self-defense</a>.&quot;</p><p><strong>2. </strong>The lead counsel argued that the former President <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/defense-argues-no-direct-order-from-duterte-to-kill-victims-no-direct-line-to-co-perpetrators-1944">did not give any direct order to kill the victims</a> of his anti-illegal drugs crackdown, reiterating that Duterte’s speeches are considered &quot;hyperbole&quot; and &quot;bluster.&quot;</p><p><strong>3. </strong>Kaufman also <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/duterte-lawyer-questions-credibility-of-prosecution-s-self-confessed-witnesses-2322">questioned the credibility of &quot;self-confessed&quot; witnesses</a> tapped by the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor, saying they were chosen to target Duterte and that they were not examined nor were their statements corroborated by the prosecution.</p><p><strong>4. </strong>The <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/duterte-hearing-stream-had-missing-parts-due-to-redactions-on-identifying-information-icc-0126">court had to cut some parts of the direct broadcast</a> of Duterte&#x27;s confirmation of charges hearing due to redactions applied by the prosecution after Kaufman disclosed information that may identify the victims and witnesses in the case.</p><p><strong>5. </strong>Kaufman said that the prosecution <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/kaufman-icc-prosecution-failed-to-show-alleged-ejks-targeted-entire-filipino-population-1950">failed to demonstrate that the alleged extrajudicial killings under Duterte&#x27;s leadership targeted the entire Filipino population</a>, arguing that alleged drug pushers and criminals have some recognizable traits and can be seen as a &quot;defined subgroup&quot; of Filipino civilians. </p><p><strong>6. </strong>The Duterte counsel also said prosecutors still have not shown a provable link between the former President&#x27;s words or any alleged chain of command that may have directly resulted in the charged incidents. &quot;There is <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/kaufman-to-icc-judges-no-smoking-gun-no-common-plan-nor-criminal-intent-0700">no smoking gun</a> in this case,&quot; he said.</p><p><strong>7. </strong>Kaufman told ICC pre-trial judges that &quot;neutralization&quot; in the Duterte government&#x27;s anti-narcotics drive <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/kaufman-neutralize-in-duterte-drug-war-only-meant-arrest-and-subdue-2006">only meant subduing suspects, not killing them</a>.</p><p><strong>8. </strong>Kaufman also argued that cases of drug-related killings are not unique to the Duterte administration, saying they were <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/-what-about-the-marcos-regime-defense-argues-ejks-not-unique-to-duterte-admin-2127">also recorded under the government of his successor</a> President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.</p><p><strong>9.</strong> Kaufman, in a chance interview, said he &quot;does not make light&quot; of the drug war victims&#x27; grief but stood firm that <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/victims-always-central-to-icc-case-but-duterte-still-wrongly-charged-kaufman-0645">Duterte &quot;has been wrongly charged&quot;</a> at the ICC.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>—From reports by Rose Carmelle Lacuata, Chedrick Gatchalian, Zen Hernandez, Katrina Domingo, and Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS </strong></div><div><strong><br/><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/z-vV-X9y8-M?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/ei0Uu1ymoBE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></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/bSy9hMixJSY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Rodrigo Duterte's defense team had the entire third day of his pre-trial hearing to present counterarguments against the prosecution's evidence for charging the former president with crimes against humanity over his drug war.</p>

Rodrigo Duterte's defense team had the entire third day of his pre-trial hearing to present counterarguments against the prosecution's evidence for charging the former president with crimes against humanity over his drug war.

LIST: Day 3 highlights of Duterte pre-trial hearing

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LIST: Day 3 highlights of Duterte pre-trial hearing

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 27, 2026 12:52 PM PHT

Read More:

ICC

International Criminal Court

Rodrigo Duterte

Nicholas Kaufman

Duterte Defense

Drug War

War On Drugs

Crimes Against Humanity

Day 3 Duterte Trial

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