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attaching in case kaya tanggalin yung black bars sa gilid

Zen Hernandez

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/17722356888961772235686809.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></span></span></div><p>THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded the fourth and final day of the confirmation of charges hearing against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday.</p><p>The Defense and Prosecution delivered sharply opposing closing arguments as judges prepare to decide whether the case will proceed to a full trial.</p><p>Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc said the chamber will deliberate and issue its decision within 60 days.</p><p>The day opened with defense lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman continuing his submissions on Count 2 involving so-called high-value targets (HVTs).</p><p>“The existence of a prioritization category within a law enforcement campaign does not establish a criminal plan. HVT was an operational classification used by law enforcement,” Kaufman told the Chamber.</p><p>“HVT is not a code for an instruction to kill or a witch hunt. It was a prioritization tool within anti-drug operations.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/duterte-high-value-target-list-not-a-code-for-killing-or-witch-hunt-lawyer-1943">Duterte &#x27;high-value target&#x27; list not a code for killing or &#x27;witch hunt&#x27; — lawyer<br/></a></div><p>The defense urged judges to examine incidents individually.</p><p>“For this reason, each alleged HVD incident must be scrutinized on its own evidentiary foundation,” Kaufman said.</p><p>He maintained that official police record shows armed confrontations rather than executions and criticized what he described as the Prosecution’s “heavy reliance on insider testimony, wishful and selective reading of police reports, and dubious and tenuous linkage to Rodrigo Duterte.”</p><p>He emphasized that in several incidents, firearms were recovered and gunpowder residue detected, and noted some operations were backed by judicial search warrants.</p><p>On the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Kaufman accused the Prosecution of relying largely on a witness “who claimed to have heard but admitted not to have seen anything.”</p><p>For Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, he told the chamber the narrative “rest[s] exclusively on a witness who, for reasons we cannot explain in open session, is wholly unable to provide complete or reliable testimony.”</p><p>He stressed the raid proceeded under “six judicial search warrants,” which he said was “hardly consistent with a premeditated murder scheme.”</p><p>“The evidence reflects decentralization, not control required under indirect co-perpetration. And for these reasons, confirmation on count two cannot stand,” Kaufman argued.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/duterte-rejection-of-icc-jurisdiction-cited-as-ground-for-continued-detention-2333">Duterte rejection of ICC jurisdiction cited as ground for continued detention<br/></a></div><p>Turning to Count 3 on barangay anti-drug operations, Kaufman said watchlists were routine, telling judges “the use of lists is a normal standard procedure.”</p><p>He argued most incidents reflected “legitimate law enforcement operations involving spontaneous and reported exchanges of fire.”</p><p>The Defense insisted the Prosecution offered “single insider accounts of alleged stagings and corroborated assertions of weapons planting and nanlabans unsupported by any forensic evidence, often speculative…”</p><p>Kaufman stressed official documents remain reliable, saying “there is zero proof… that the only existing contemporaneous documentary evidence is fabricated or unreliable.”</p><p>He also rejected claims that there were minors killed in the Duterte administration’s &quot;war on drugs&quot;, apart from Kian delos Santos, saying there were “no birth certificates, no corroborative evidence, nothing.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/4/21/ca-affirms-conviction-of-policeman-in-carl-arnaiz-and-kulot-de-guzman-case-1224">CA affirms conviction of policeman in Carl Arnaiz and &#x27;Kulot&#x27; De Guzman case<br/></a></div><p>Regarding the Benjamin Vista incident, the Defense once again cited police accounts that he allegedly grabbed an officer’s firearm while handcuffed, prompting police to shoot in self-defense.</p><p>Kaufman concluded that prosecution witnesses themselves showed “there was no formal approval process” and that “decisions were taken locally,” which he said “destroys the assertion that there was a mutually agreed common plan.”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;VENEER OF LEGALITY&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In his closing remarks, Prosecution lawyer Julian Nichols reiterated that Duterte elevated alleged Davao co-perpetrators to senior posts in the government during his presidential term, which makes it not surprising to see police reports that tell a different story compared to the accounts of victims.</p><p>“When he appoints the chief of police… It’s not a surprise that the police reports don’t reflect that.”</p><p>Nichols stressed that international crimes cases rarely involve written orders from top leaders and said the Prosecution has evidence of coordination.</p><p>On the term “neutralize,” he told the chamber the Prosecution has “multiple witnesses… who will testify that to neutralize means to kill.”</p><p>Nichols also challenged Duterte’s repeated references to self-defense in speeches presented by his Defense lawyers.</p><p>“That was only to build a veneer of legality, to create an impression of legality and to give his lawyers something to say when this day came.”</p><p>He maintained the accused bears the greatest responsibility, telling judges, “We’re here in this court to prosecute the most responsible.”</p><p>“He must answer for the dead. The victims demand it. Justice demands it. And for purposes of confirmation, the evidence demands it,” Nichols said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/27/duterte-s-kill-rhetoric-fostered-climate-of-violence-impunity-victims-counsel-2242">Duterte&#x27;s &#x27;kill rhetoric&#x27; fostered climate of violence, impunity — victims&#x27; counsel<br/></a></div><p>Common Legal Representative of Victims (CLRV) lawyer Gilbert Andres urged the chamber to consider the broader context.</p><p>He argued that under Philippine law, “Whatever the president publicly states is policy.”</p><p>Andres said the alleged campaign was both widespread and systematic, emphasizing geographic spread, duration, and impact.</p><p>Citing government figures, he noted thousands died in anti-drug operations and argued police cannot rely on presumptions of regularity when deaths occur.</p><p>“The defense has not blemished the prosecution legal theory and evidence,” Andres said.</p><p>“All charges should be confirmed, and Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte committed to trial.”</p><p>In a brief reply, Kaufman said the prosecution mischaracterized his earlier remarks, telling judges the claim was “completely out of context.”</p><p>He reiterated that speeches alone are insufficient and urged the chamber not to confirm the charges.</p><p>Nichols, meanwhile, asked judges to disregard portions of Kaufman’s remarks relaying statements attributed to Duterte, saying defense counsel “can’t testify for his client” and that the remarks were not &quot;responsive to arguments&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DETENTION HEARING</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The chamber later convened Duterte’s first annual review of detention following his transfer to ICC custody in March 2025.</p><p>Nichols argued there are new circumstances against interim release, pointing to Duterte’s latest statements in his waiver letter for his confirmation hearing attendance, where he said that he does “not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.”</p><p>“He said that he was forcibly pushed into a jet and renditioned to the Hague. He refers to his arrest as a kidnapping. None of which sounds as though those are the words of a person who would return voluntarily to the court,” Nichols said.</p><p>Victims’ counsel Joel Butuyan warned Duterte “will abscond from the jurisdiction of this court if he is released from detention,” citing strong political support and recent filings by his children before the Philippine Supreme Court.</p><p>“As the proceedings advance, the suspect&#x27;s incentive to flee increases. The end of the confirmation of charges hearing, which occurred today, further intensifies that risk as it brings the prospects of trial nearer on the horizon,” Butuyan underscored.</p><p>For the defense, Kaufman said they would not oppose continued detention while an appeal on the same matter is pending before the Appeals Chamber.</p><p>Judge Motoc said the Pre-Trial Chamber I will issue a ruling on continued detention within the timeframe set by court rules.</p>

<p>The Defense and Prosecution delivered sharply opposing closing arguments as judges prepare to decide whether the case will proceed to a full trial.</p>

The Defense and Prosecution delivered sharply opposing closing arguments as judges prepare to decide whether the case will proceed to a full trial.

ICC wraps up Duterte confirmation hearing; ruling due within 60 days

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ICC wraps up Duterte confirmation hearing; ruling due within 60 days

Zen Hernandez,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 28, 2026 08:02 AM PHT

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Rodrigo Duterte

International Criminal Court

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