There is no evidence connecting former President Rodrigo Duterte to the killings of Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, and Benjamin Visda, his lawyer told judges at the International Criminal Court.
Defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman said Duterte’s involvement in Espinosa’s case ended when the mayor surrendered in August 2016 after being given a 24-hour ultimatum.
“So if we look at it from the point of view of Rodrigo Duterte, that is where the incident ended,” Kaufman said during the final day of the confirmation of charges hearing. “What happened thereafter, as awful as it may be, had nothing to do with our client. And not one witness can say that.”
Espinosa and drug suspect Raul Yap were later killed in an alleged shootout inside the Baybay City Provincial Jail following Espinosa’s surrender.
On the killing of Parojinog in a July 30, 2017 predawn drug raid, Kaufman argued that the prosecution’s case relied on a witness who was “unable to provide complete or reliable testimony.”
He cited police reports indicating that the operation was carried out under six judicial search warrants.
“If the intention was cold-blooded murder, why go to the bother of involving a judge?” Kaufman said.
He added that official investigative materials show officers were met with gunfire when attempting to serve the warrants, prompting them to return fire. Four individuals were arrested during the operation.
“That fact alone is not consistent with the theory of indiscriminate execution but is rather consistent instead with arrest and prosecution within the boundaries of the law,” he said.
Kaufman also said there was no evidence tying Duterte to Visda’s killing.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Duterte knew of Visda, that he directed the operation, or that he approved its planning,” he said, adding that the prosecution failed to show that the incident would not have occurred absent Duterte’s alleged contribution.
Prosecutors previously presented a video allegedly showing Visda being forced onto a motorcycle by police officers while handcuffed. They said he was shot multiple times in the head about 20 minutes later.
In his closing remarks, ICC Prosecutor and Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls said Espinosa and Yap were marked as “neutralized” on Duterte’s list not on the day of their arrest, but on the day they were killed.
“They are noted as neutralized on the days they are killed,” Nicholls said.
Kaufman countered that the label “high-value target” (HVT) was merely an operational classification used by law enforcement.
“HVT is not a code for an instruction to kill or a witch hunt,” he said. “Classification does not imply selection for murder.”
The ICC prosecutor has charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, in connection with his time as mayor and president.
Under Count 2, killings were allegedly carried out by members of a so-called “National Network” between 2016 and 2017, covering 14 victims identified as high-value targets.
Kaufman maintained that when the incidents under Count 2 are examined individually, the prosecution’s case shows “heavy reliance on insider testimony, wishful and selective reading of police reports, and dubious and tenuous linkage to Rodrigo Duterte.”
