9 hours ago
1
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
July 8, 2025 | 4:56pm
Nanette Castillo grieves next to the dead body of her son Aldrin, an alleged drug user killed by unidentified assailants, in Manila on October 3, 2017. Noel Celis/AFP
MANILA, Philippines — After former President Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer said he would submit Sen. Imee Marcos’ committee report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as proof of political maneuvering, the Palace said he should instead focus on defending the former chief executive from the allegations of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) against him.
Nicholas Kaufman said that Sen. Marcos, the sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was able to detail the whole-of-government approach to bring down the Duterte clan.
The Palace’s response? Kaufman should come up with a better defense.
“For the fees he has allegedly been demanding from his client, former President Rodrigo Duterte, he should do better than that,” said Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, who is a lawyer.
“He should concentrate on his defenses, he should concentrate on the allegations and admissions of the former President of his killings and that he ordered the killings of some people in relation to war on drugs, and he also admitted that he will double the EJK killings once elected as a mayor. He should concentrate on that. That is supposed to be part of his defense for his client,” she said.
The Palace even said that it could be harmful for Duterte’s case should the ICC be shown the Senate committee report.
The ICC would see exactly how the senators conducted the hearing.
“Hindi naman po bulag ang ICC judges para makita kung ano ba talaga iyong maaaring naging katotohanan dito,” Castro said.
(The ICC judges are not blind, they will see what was the truth.)
"Marcos’ Senate hearing consisted of hours of repetitive questioning and was mainly conducted by pro-Duterte senators.
Castro also reiterated that the case was filed at the ICC before the current administration.
Duterte is still in The Hague, Netherlands, awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. The former president’s bloody war on drugs left at least 6,000 people dead, with human rights groups estimating the number could be as high as 30,000.
