Suffice it to say that Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon doesn't buy lawyer Nicholas Kaufman's "hyperbole defense" for former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ridon, speaking during the Saturday Media Forum on Feb. 28 at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City, says Kaufman can't claim that Duterte’s well-documented remarks on the his administration's bloody war on drugs were merely jokes, hyperbole or figures of speech.

“Alam po ninyo, ang lahat ng sinasabi ng mga matataas na pinuno ng pamahalaan, ito po ay tinatrato bilang magiging patakaran. Ibig sabihin, wala po ang ‘yung hyperbole, wala pong puwang ‘yung figures of speech sa paglalatag po ng mga patakaran,” said the House Committee on Public Accounts chairman.

(You know, everything said by the highest officials of government is treated as policy. That means there is no hyperbole, no room for figures of speech when laying down policies.)

Ridon says public utterances from public officials cannot be treated as jokes, especially when they involve threats and come from the country’s highest official who exercises authority over the police and the military.

Kaufman, Duterte's defense lawyer, argued during the ICC confirmation of charges proceedings that the ex-president's public statements — frequently cited by prosecutors — should not be taken literally but understood as political rhetoric.

The ICC case involves alleged crimes against humanity linked to the thousands of deaths during the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

Prosecutors said that the former president’s statements encouraged or signaled deadly operations, while the defense insisted they were merely rhetoric.

Ridon said the case boils down to whether or not the former president’s remarks were merely jokes, hyperbole or figures of speech, or whether they carried operational weight.

“Ang sinasabi po nila, sa bawat panahon na nagbibigay ng banta ang dating pangulo, meron pong namamatay na mga biktima ng Duterte drug war (What they say is that whenever the former president issues threats, there are victims who die in the Duterte drug war),” said the lawyer-solon.

“So ibig sabihin, parang ang teorya po ng prosekusyon, merong actual control over anti-drug activities. Ang pangulo po mismo, based on the words of the president (So, in effect, the prosecution’s theory is that there was actual control over anti-drug activities. It was by the president himself, based on his own words),” he added.

Ridon said the ICC will ultimately decide whether the case proceeds to full trial but stressed that public officials must recognize the weight of their words.

“I think it is a good policy for high government officials na wala hong jokes dito. Kumbaga, kung ano ho ‘yung sinasabi po natin, ‘yan po ‘yung pinakikinggan ng mga kababayan po natin, ‘yan po ‘yung pinaniniwalaan,” he said.

(I believe it is good policy for high government officials that there should be no jokes here. In other words, whatever we say is what our fellow citizens listen to, and it is what they believe.)