MANILA, Philippines – The legal team representing victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs has issued a scathing response to the former Philippine president’s lead counsel, calling his recent court submission “ignorant” and “out of touch.”

ICC-listed lawyer Atty. Joel Butuyan lashed out at British-Israeli defense attorney Nicholas Kaufman, who on April 7 urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to require national IDs or passports with updated photographs before allowing victims to participate in the proceedings.

“Mr. Kaufman’s comment on the IDs of the victims of his client comes from someone who obviously has no knowledge at all of the Philippine situation,” Butuyan said. “It comes from someone who is totally ignorant of the kind of people who were mass murdered by Mr. Duterte.”

Kaufman argued that stricter verification is necessary to prevent fraud, misrepresentation, or double counting. But Filipino lawyers contend that such a requirement would effectively exclude the very communities that suffered most under Duterte’s drug war.

“For the information of Mr. Kaufman, the victims come from the poorest of the poor who do not have passports, driver’s licenses, SSS, GSIS, or any professional license,” Butuyan said. “The kind of IDs being demanded by Mr. Kaufman are documents that are badges of wealth and privilege in the Philippines.”

He explained that these victims often lack formal employment or access to banking services—barriers that are further exacerbated by the absence of government-issued identification.

“When they don’t have work, they don’t have jobs, they don’t have bank accounts and they don’t have registrations with the government… They identify themselves with barangay IDs, with postal IDs… A birth certificate can be used, a marriage contract can be used as well, and I think sometimes, even baptismal certificates are used,” he said. “Kasi it’s really a challenge among the poor, they really don’t have IDs. That’s why they don’t have bank accounts, because they don’t have IDs to present to banks.”

Kaufman also objected to the ICC Registry’s proposal to accept “a declaration signed by two witnesses” as sufficient identification—an approach previously allowed in African conflict cases, where victims had lost all personal documents.

“In fact, sa African cases, mas mahirap nga dun kumuha ng mga IDs kasi yung mga tao dun sinunog mga bahay nila,” Butuyan pointed out. “They lost all possessions, including their identification cards. And dun sa mga kasong yun, pinayagan yung certification lang ng 2 people who know the victim. So we anticipate that is also going to happen here in the Philippines, considering na medyo ganun din ang situation sa mahihirap.”

Kaufman’s suggestion that the ICC’s Office of Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) should represent all victims—rather than individual lawyers—also drew strong pushback from the victims and their families.

“I’ve talked to some of the victims and they really find it totally abhorrent that Mr. Duterte, speaking through Mr. Kaufman, is having a say on who is going to represent the victims,” Butuyan said. “Sa kanila, excuse me, you represent the mass murderer, how can you have a say on who is going to represent the victims of your client. So talagang medyo nagre-react sila doon.”

So far, the ICC has confirmed two lawyers on Duterte’s defense team: Kaufman and Dov Jacobs, an experienced trial lawyer in international criminal law. Once the court finalizes procedures for victims’ participation, legal representation for the victims will also be confirmed.

According to Butuyan, lawyers may come from the OPCV or from the ICC’s own List of Counsel—of which he himself is a member.

“Kailangan ’yung pinagkakatiwalaan talaga ng mga victims ’yung maa-appoint para magkaroon ng magandang relationship dahil matagal yung trial na mangyayari… Ang gusto ng ICC is kung pupwede unified team lang, iisa lang yung mag-rerepresent. But there are cases when the ICC appoints two, nagkaroon pa ng lima sa isang kaso sa Kenya yata or Congo… But they were asked to speak as one and have a united front,” he said.

Butuyan expressed optimism that, following the confirmation of charges hearing in September, the court would proceed to trial—and that it would not take as long as other ICC cases, which sometimes stretch over a decade.

“We are very, very optimistic kasi yung ebidensya na ipe-presenta, karamihan dun mga admissions ni Mr. Duterte… Talagang yung sarili niya ini-incriminate niya,” Butuyan said. “Kasi sa mga kaso sa Africa ang mahirap talaga is to link the crimes that happened on the ground dun sa presidente or leader ng militia. Eh dito si Mr. Duterte himself supplied the evidence that links him to the killings that happened on the ground. So mas madali,” he added.

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