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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Kaufman seeks to negotiate with Marcos gov't on Duterte's return to PH

Kaufman seeks to negotiate with Marcos gov't on Duterte's return to PH

Published Aug 26, 2025 04:16 pm
Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman is seeking an audience with the Marcos administration to negotiate the return of the ex-chief executive to the Philippines.

Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (Photo from Alvin & Tourism via Facebook)
Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (Photo from Alvin & Tourism via Facebook)
Kaufman, Duterte’s lawyer in his crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he has been detained since March, said he wants to speak to the government and the Filipino people.

“I have a request from the Philippines administration, the government. I'm still waiting to be invited. I wanna speak to you people,” he said in a livestreamed interview on Alvin & Tourism Facebook page on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

“I wanna negotiate the former president's return now to the Philippines,” the lawyer added.

He said this after asking Duterte’s supporters “to put their faith in the judicial process” and to “keep praying for his speedy release with guarantees to the country he requests and for his speedy return to the Philippines.”

The defense currently has two pending motions before the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC I)—a jurisdiction challenge and a request for interim release to an undisclosed territory—which Kaufman expects to be resolved in the coming weeks.

The former president, who is expected to face the PTC I during the Sept. 23 confirmation of charges hearing, has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands since his extradition there in March after being arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Kaufman, who leads the defense team, said that the former president’s speeches “have been selectively chosen” to suit the purposes of the cases filed against him.

He argued that “the former president made plenty of speeches which don't necessarily support a policy of extrajudicial killing.”

“He was a person who wasn't shy of using, we put it, colorful language, but he's probably one of the most popular politicians that the Philippines has ever had. And there's a reason for that,” he added.

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ICC Rodrigo Duterte Marcos administration Nicholas Kaufman
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