THE CONFIRMATION of charges hearing for former President Rodrigo Duterte concluded on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, with the defense launching a blistering attack on the prosecution’s legal foundation and the credibility of its “insider” witnesses.
Lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman argued that the case against the 80-year-old former leader was built on a “fantasy” designed to artificially link Duterte to a specific set of 78 deaths cited in the charging document.
At the heart of the legal tug-of-war is the doctrine of indirect co-perpetration. Unlike traditional murder charges, this theory allows the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold high-level leaders liable for crimes committed by others, provided they exercised “control over the crime” through an organized apparatus of power.
Kaufman dismissed this as a “highly technical means” to connect Duterte to criminal activity, “not of his own doing.”
The defense maintained that the prosecution failed to show a single direct order from Duterte to a specific individual to kill any of the 78 identified victims.
Kaufman described Duterte’s infamous “kill” speeches as “bluster” and “rhetoric” intended to instill fear in criminals, not as legal directives for execution.
The defense argued that the drug war was a legitimate, decentralized law enforcement effort, rather than a systematic common plan orchestrated from the top.
Attacking the witnesses
The defense team further lashed out at the prosecution’s reliance on “insider witnesses”—former members of the alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS) and government officials.
Kaufman labeled these witnesses “self-confessed murderers” who have been incentivized with immunity and new identities.
He revealed that when he presented the names of these cooperating witnesses to Duterte in detention, the former president recognized only two, dismissing them as a “liar” and a “scalawag.”
“They talk about thousands?” Duterte reportedly asked his lawyer. “I’ve never murdered anyone.”
The “78” discrepancy
A major point of contention during the week was the number of victims. While human rights groups estimate the “war on drugs” death toll at up to 30,000, the current ICC charging document focuses on 78 specific deaths across 49 incidents.
Kaufman argued that the prosecution’s decision to “throw out” many of Duterte’s speeches as evidence—claiming they still had enough to convict without the “bluster”—proves the case is evidentiary thin.
Kaufman’s final plea to the Pre-Trial Chamber was for “common sense” and a return to the principle of “presumed innocence.”
