Duterte camp asks ICC to restrict drug war victim IDs

The defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to impose stringent rules on the identification of drug war victims participating in the trial.

Duterte's lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, proposed limiting accepted identity documents to national ID cards or current Philippine passports.

If primary documents are unavailable, Kaufman suggested the ICC require IDs in a staggered fashion mandated by the Philippine Social Security System (SSS).

Kaufman argued that using insufficiently verified identity documents could lead to misidentification, double-counting, and the inclusion of false victims.

However, lawyers representing the victims called the proposal a grave injustice, stating that the IDs required are "badges of wealth and privilege" unavailable to the poor who are the majority of victims.

ICC-accredited counsel Joel Butuyan criticized Kaufman's observations as coming "from someone who obviously has no knowledge at all of the Philippine situation."