Some TikTok and Facebook users are circulating a quote attributed to Nicholas Kaufman, claiming that former president Rodrigo Duterte “instructed” him to stop all legal actions related to the crimes against humanity charge against him before the International Criminal Court. This is fake.
What Kaufman said in a Jan. 26 statement is that Duterte was “denied” due process, and vowed that the defense team will contest the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s latest decision that found the former Philippine president fit to stand trial.
Originally published by a TikTok user on Jan. 26, the graphic, which displays a layout similar to Bilyonaryo News Channel’s quote cards, bears a statement supposedly made by Kaufman that reads:
“The former president has instructed me to cease all legal efforts regarding his case, acknowledging that the [sic] he’s run out of time.”
Kaufman said that the defense team is disappointed over the ICC’s ruling declaring Duterte fit to participate in pre-trial proceedings.
“The Defence is disappointed that, contrary to accepted practice, it was denied the opportunity to present its own medical evidence and to question, in court, the contradictory findings of professionals selected by the judges,” Kaufman was quoted as saying in Jan. 26 local media reports.
“The Defence will seek leave to appeal this decision and argue that Mr. Duterte was denied due process,” he added.
A cursory search of the entire statement on Google yielded no credible news reports that mention the remark featured in the bogus quote card.
A quick review of BNC’s official FB page, whose name, branding and layout were intentionally mimicked by the TikTok user, confirms it did not release the fake graphic. Compared with BNC’s authentic quote cards, one red flag evident in the fabricated version is the absence of the date when the statement was made.
ICC: Duterte fit to stand trial
The fraudulent quote card surfaced on the same day the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, in its Jan. 26 decision, rejected the defense’s request for an indefinite adjournment of all legal proceedings, including the confirmation of charges hearing, over Duterte’s alleged cognitive impairment.
The chamber found the 80-year-old Duterte “fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings,” based on the medical assessment of three independent experts.
Duterte, who was arrested in March 2025 for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody drug war, will remain detained at the ICC detention center in Scheveningen as the chamber scheduled the start of the confirmation of charges hearing on Feb. 23.
Posted by TikTok user mnc.ph_ (Metropolitan News Channel), the video carrying the fake quote graphic has been viewed over 146,300 times and so far garnered 2,162 engagements. The republished copy by an FB user has received 3,608 interactions as of writing.
