A pro-Duterte Facebook user posted an image supposedly showing lawyer Nicholas Kaufman visiting former president Rodrigo Duterte after being replaced as the latter’s legal counsel. The photo is fake and generated using artificial intelligence.
Published on May 11, the image shows Kaufman feeding the ex-president while handing him a napkin. It bore a caption that read:
“Ang bait talaga ni attorney Kauffman binisita niya parin si Tatay Digong napamahal na talaga siya kay tatay Digong maraming salamat talaga saiyo attorney kahit nag bitiw kana lagi kapa rin dumadalaw kay tatay Digong iba talaga pag mabait marami nagmamahal kahit ibang lahi the best ka talaga tatay Digong mahal ka ng lahat relax ka lang dyan pag si Inday Sara na pangulo makakalaya kana din dyan
(Attorney Kauffman is really kind; he still visited Tatay Digong [Durerte]. He has truly become close to Tatay Digong. Thank you so much, attorney. Even though you’re busy, you still visited Tatay Digong. It’s really different when someone is kind; many people love him, even from other countries. You’re really the best. Tatay Digong, everyone loves you. Just relax there. When Inday Sara becomes president, you’ll be free to go).”
Duterte’s former counsel did visit on May 7, and was told then that his services would not be renewed after it expired on March 31. However, there is no photo released to confirm this scene since under the ICC Rules of Decorum, taking photos or recording videos inside the international court’s premises, including its detention facility in Scheveningen in The Hague, Netherlands is prohibited..
The British-Israeli lawyer served as the former president’s legal counsel for a year, starting March 17, 2025, six days after his arrest at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. However, Kaufman stepped down as lead defense counsel on May 8, after being told the day before that the Dutertes were hiring a new lead legal counsel.
VERA Files Fact Check spotted some telltale signs showing that the image was created by AI:
- The room looks more like a luxury hotel than a cell inside a detention center.
- The dishes on the table are fine china, not utilitarian as expected inside a prison
- Duterte’s appearance is not consistent with claims of his children and Kaufman who described him as having lost weight and is frail;
- The fingers of Kaufman’s right hand holding the spoon are distorted and appear unnatural.
To further verify the image’s authenticity, VERA Files Fact Check ran it through several AI-detection tools. Results from Hive Moderation indicated the image is likely AI-generated or had deepfake content, assessing a 99.2% probability that it was created using Gemini AI. Two other tools, WasItAI and Sightengine, likewise concluded that the image is AI-generated.
After Kaufman’s withdrawal, Peter Haynes was announced as new defense counsel for the 81-year-old Duterte and will represent the former president in his crimes against humanity cases when the trial begins.
The AI-generated image surfaced after Kaufman stepped down as the ex-president’s legal counsel.
As of writing, the spurious post published by an FB user garnered 1,900 reactions; 4 comments; and 124 shares.
