Following the withdrawal of Rodrigo Duterte’s two lawyers in his crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court, a Facebook page posted a graphic on a “Diehard Duterte Supporters” group of the new defense attorney of the former president. This is fake.
Published on May 9 by a page created in 2023 but with just eight followers, the graphic showed Duterte’s alleged new Japanese counsel, Phoenix Wright, in what appears to be a press interview being broadcast by “Spectrum News 1.” The graphic contained Wright’s supposed statement:
“Mr. Duterte’s actions, while controversial, were taken in the context of his duty to protect the people of the Philippines. We will demonstrate that the ICC does not have jurisdiction, and even if it did, that these actions do not constitute crimes against humanity.”
The post drew thousands of likes and heart reactions as well as comments thanking Wright for representing the former president in his ICC trial proceedings. It also carried this caption:
“BAGONG ABOGADO NI TATAY DIGONG, MAS BIHASA KAY KAUFMAN! (Tatay Digong’s new layer is more skilled than [Nicholas] Kaufman!)
Iminungkahi ni Phoenix Wright, beteranong abogado mula sa Japan, ang kanyang saloobin ukol sa kontribusyon ni FPRRD sa kaligtasan ng Pilipinas sa panahon ng kanyang pamumuno. (Phoenix Wright, a veteran lawyer from Japan, shared his views on former president Duterte’s contribution to the Philippines’ security during his term.)
‘Guilty? OBJECTION! Mr. Duterte’s actions were not done in vain! Every Filipino has felt safe during his term as the greatest Philippine President! Do you want to see the facts? TAKE THAT! See all the Filipinos in The Hague showing their unwavering support for the former president.'”
As of May 11, Duterte’s new legal counsel, who was reportedly picked by his common-law partner Honeylet Avanceña and their daughter Veronica (Kitty), remains unnamed.
The identity of the new lawyer was redacted in a May 8 notification to the ICC Trial Chamber III where Kaufman asked the international tribunal to allow him to withdraw as legal counsel for Duterte, noting his engagement to represent Duterte ended on March 31.
Phoenix Wright is a fictional defense lawyer in the video game series Ace Attorney, developed by the Japanese company Capcom. The series had a live adaptation movie in 2012, which seems to be the basis of the real-life depiction of Wright in the bogus graphic.
VERA Files ran the graphic through three detection tools, and the results indicated it was likely generated using artificial intelligence.
The fictitious graphic surfaced a day after the ICC Trial Chamber III granted on May 8 the request of Dov Jacobs, Duterte’s associate counsel, to exit from the former president’s defense team. The chamber approved Kaufman’s similar request for withdrawal as lead counsel on May 11, noting that the move caused no prejudice or inconvenience.
In its decision, the ICC Trial Chamber III directed the Registry to reclassify Kaufman’s May 8 request — where the name of his successor counsel was redacted — as public, unless he provides reasons by May 11 to keep the identity of Duterte’s new lawyer confidential.
Uploaded by FB page Insane Pinoy Online (created on Aug. 21, 2023), the fake graphic has so far received 4,100 reactions; 354 comments and 189 shares.
