Experts question Duterte's defenseIllustration of Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s lead counsel, with the charts he used to compare drug war arrests and deaths during the former president’s confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court. So, for Duterte’s defense to attack the prosecution’s methodology, he explained to Philstar.com, it was most likely an attempt to “create doubt” on the prosecution’s claims. Kaufman repeated this approach in Duterte’s defense at least three times. Duterte’s defense also cited the nearly 1,900 drug-related investigations conducted on policemen in 2017 and 375 who were later dismissed, criticizing the prosecution for not pointing this out. However, Arguelles argued that in political science, a state policy is not limited to formal documents with explicit instructions.

Source: Philippine Star March 01, 2026 13:46 UTC