Duterte’s last chance

By Herbert Vego

NOW it can be told, the last chance for former President Rodrigo Duterte to move out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Detention Centre at The Hague is to win his case for crimes against humanity.

However, no less than her lawyer daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, doubts it.

Ouch! She did not sound like a lawyer when she told the foreign and Philippine media at The Hague, “If they have already prejudged the case of Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte, we will also prejudge the ICC as a biased political court. It is not a court of justice.”

Oh no! Justice has not been denied yet, precisely because her father has not undergone trial yet due to delaying tactics maneuvered by their British-Israeli lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman.

If Kaufman truly believes that his client is innocent, he should never have posed an objection by citing three grounds, each one filed independently at different times. On the contrary, he should have fought for the acquittal of his client.

The 80-year-old former strongman faces murder charges that allegedly took place during his so-called war on drugs.

After reading the accusation, Kaufman must have shaken his head and thought of ways to either delay or abort the trial. Let us count the ways.

First, Kaufman questioned the jurisdiction of the ICC over the former president. Second, he asked the ICC to grant him interim release. And third, he cited Digong’s “unfitness to stand trial.”

Having rejected the above grounds for reasons already reported in the media, the ICC has rescheduled the postponed confirmation of charges against Duterte on Feb. 23, 24, 26 and 27 this year.

The confirmation of charges is a pretrial procedure at the ICC where judges determine whether there is enough evidence for the trial to proceed.

If there is, the case will be assigned to a trial chamber, where additional evidence may be presented.

So, how could VP Sara call the ICC “biased” when trial of the case has not begun yet?

What she is surely afraid of are the likely state witnesses who would prove the guilt of her father over thousands of murder and torture cases committed while waging his war on drugs. These witnesses include those who used to work closely with Digong from his years as Davao City mayor and as Philippine president.

Among them are Arturo Lascañas, a former Davao City police officer and a confessed member of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), and Edgar Matobato, a confessed assassin for the DDS.

Rumors have it that VP Sara would junk Kaufman like a hot potato and hire another counsel to defend her dad.

If I were in Kaufman’s shoes, so what?

According to reports, Kaufman has been receiving USD2.5 million (around PHP140–150 million) monthly from the Dutertes, who have neither confirmed nor denied it in the media. Imagine the money that has accumulated in the lawyer’s bank account for almost one year since March 2025.

As to where the Dutertes source the money from, will Mary Grace Piattos tell us?

-oOo-

WHY MORE POWER’S HEAD DOES NOT BREAK

WHILE on a break during a press conference, I asked MORE Power President and CEO Roel Z. Castro, “How do you fight stress despite a myriad of corporate responsibilities?”

MORE Electric and Power Corporation is the power distribution company in Iloilo City. It now also covers Passi City and 15 Iloilo municipalities.

Castro holds similar posts in two other distribution utilities – at Negros Power in Bacolod City and Bohol Light in Tagbilaran City.

I don’t remember his exact answer in Filipino. But it was about motivation and the drive to defeat the daily problems coming his way. When he sets his mind to accomplish something, he goes all the way until it is done.