Propaganda versus facts

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Finally, the wheel of justice started to grind. The long-awaited confirmation of charges hearing of populist strongman Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague commenced this week. It was a four-day hearing designed to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring the case to a full-blown trial. Duterte is charged with crimes against humanity before the international tribunal in relation to his bloody and gory war on drugs — the flagship program of his administration.

Duterte was not present in the confirmation of charges hearing. He waived his right to appear before the court. His team of lawyers led by Nicholas Kaufman represented him. He told the court he is “old, tired and frail,” wishing his peace inside the cell where he was placed should be respected. The fact that he signed the waiver fully aware of the consequences of waiving his right proved he is not suffering from a cognitive decline as earlier claimed by his lawyers.

The confirmation of charges hearing was a watershed moment for the country and the whole of Asia. Duterte is the first Filipino and Asian leader to be charged before the ICC. It was also a dramatic and emotional occasion for the families and loved ones of the victims of the war on drugs. This is a turning point in their long quest for justice.

It is unthinkable that Duterte — for all his bluster, boasting and arrogance — now stands before the ICC, which he harangued, disparaged, insulted and taunted. Not even the sharpest political observer had foreseen this a year ago. The future is truly unpredictable and open-ended. Reality is really stranger than fiction.

Back in 2022, the Dutertes were ecstatic that their best-laid plan appeared to be in place. UniTeam was ascendant with Bongbong Marcos (BBM) and Sara Duterte cruising to a crushing landslide victory. Rodrigo Duterte, safely protected under BBM’s rule, was unlikely to be held accountable for the slaughter of thousands of Filipinos in his war on drugs. In the Dutertes’ perfect plan, Sara Duterte succeeds BBM in 2028, dooming any attempt to bring their patriarch to justice. They were giving a finger to the ICC.

In a reversal of fortune, fate played a cruel, crude and hurtful joke on the Dutertes. UniTeam unraveled quickly upon assuming power with the elder Duterte as the major casualty in an ugly and vicious war of attrition. BBM treacherously sent Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC in The Hague, outflanking the Dutertes with a deceitful maneuver. The rest of the horrified Dutertes were hapless and helpless to prevent it.

Now charges against former populist autocrat Rodrigo Duterte are being confirmed by the ICC. Based on what were presented in the hearings, the charges are likely to be confirmed with Duterte finally facing the full force of justice.

The prosecution was methodical, clinical and incisive in arguing their case. They came to the hearing prepared and organized. The prosecution presented hard evidence, the policy architecture where the war on drugs was anchored as well as the command structure that executed it. They identified the co-perpetrators and their role in the bloody carnage. For the first time, the world got a glimpse of how Duterte’s macabre flagship program was implemented, leading to the deaths of thousands of Filipinos.

Charts, figures, data, videos and documents were presented by the prosecution to the ICC judges. It was a surgical presentation of facts. Highlighted was CMC No. 16-2016, the Oplan Tokhang memorandum that launched the gruesome war on drugs.

Lawyers of the victims’ families presented their plight and how the war on drugs changed their lives. Their loved ones were killed right before their eyes. They were stigmatized and ostracized in their close-knit communities, demonized by authorities. The ICC is their last hope to get justice for their kin and family members. They appealed to the ICC to look at their plight and give justice to their loved ones who perished in the drug war. “The case is the last boat that the victims can board to go on a journey in the search for justice …” lawyers of the victims told the court.

While the prosecution and lawyers of the victims presented facts and the legal framework of the case, Kaufman of the defense resorted to propaganda. The duty of the defense is to counter the facts of the prosecution with their own facts. Kaufman did not do this. Instead, he delivered a political speech that did not dwell on the charges and had nothing to do with the merits of the case of his client.

Kaufman asserted Duterte is a misunderstood leader who was hated by the elite and the political class. Duterte’s public “kill, kill, kill” pronouncements were harmless “hyperbole, bluster, and rhetoric,” Kaufman stressed, blaming the media and civil society groups for exaggerating them. The charges against Duterte are politically motivated — BBM’s administration’s attempt to tarnish his legacy, Kaufman insisted.

Kaufman was not addressing the court or the ICC judges. He was giving a speech at a rally of Duterte supporters. His statements were red meat thrown to the DDS crowd, priming and agitating them. Kaufman was consolidating the Duterte base, not defending his client in court. He countered facts with propaganda.

Unfortunately for Kaufman and the defense, the ICC is not interested in agitation-propaganda. They are after cold, hard facts and evidence. Is Duterte connected to the mass murder of thousands of Filipinos? Was he responsible for their deaths as part of his policy as president of the Philippines? Was the Davao model of killing suspected drug offenders replicated at the national level when Duterte became president? Are there documentary and evidentiary proofs of this?

The case against Duterte before the ICC is a battle between fact and propaganda, reality versus fantasy. Kaufman and the defense press for fiction while the prosecution asserts the primacy of fact and evidence. The winner is predictable.