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February 26, 2026 | 7:31pm
Nicholas Kaufman, the defense counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte, appears before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Feb. 26, 2026.
International Criminal Court / Philstar.com's screenshot
MANILA, Philippines — Detained former president Rodrigo Duterte’s defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, argued that the prosecution has mischaracterized the "war on drugs," insisting that Duterte’s instructions to law enforcement were rooted in “exaltation of the principle of lawful use of self-defense.”
During the presentation of Duterte’s defense on Thursday, February 26 (Manila time), Kaufman said that the prosecution’s evidence was "totally inadequate," specifically accusing investigators of cherry-picking the former president’s public addresses.
“Ten of these speeches, including two referred to by the deputy prosecutor, actually contained an exaltation to the use of lawful self-defense,” Kaufman said at the International Criminal Court’s pre-trial chamber.
Kaufman pointed to the former president’s speeches, where Duterte instructed police to arrest suspects peacefully and only resort to lethal force if they encountered violent resistance that placed their lives in jeopardy.
According to Kaufman, these directives negate the prosecution’s claim of a "crafty design" for murder.
Citing Duterte’s previous speech, he said: “Do not kill if you are not in danger of losing your life.”
Duterte’s ICC lawyer also pointed out in a media interview with Sen. Bato Dela Rosa, who was the chief implementer of Duterte’s drug war, saying that he is to “instill fear in the heart of drug addicts,” as a proposal for a policy, which Kaufman described as “anything but criminal.”
“Dela Rosa, when talking about instilling fear in the hearts of drug users, was actually proposing a policy, which is anything but criminal and is totally supportive of the main tenets of the defense. Namely, that the only use of force will be for the envisioning of self-defense,” Kaufman said.
Duterte’s confirmation of charges started on February 23 for crimes against humanity of murder over the killings during his time as the mayor of Davao City and his presidency.
On the second day of his confirmation of charges, the prosecution presented several speeches in which he asked law enforcement to kill drug addicts and users.
As of writing, Kaufman, his counsel, is currently presenting his defense, mostly showing rebuttals of the earlier arguments of the prosecution.
