Edited visual of ex-Philippine president's counsel dupes online users

An image of Duterte's lawyer Nicholas Kaufman grinning was shared on Facebook on November 29, 2025 with the Tagalog-language caption: "As Kaufman observed the denial of the appeal for Duterte's release, he gave a sweet smile for his 150 million-peso per month salary from Duterte. Boom, a triumphant smile."

The image circulated a day after ICC judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza told a hearing that lawyers for the 80-year-old former president had not laid out strong enough precautions to warrant his temporary release from custody in The Hague, where the court is based (archived link).

Duterte's lawyers, appealing against an earlier refusal, had called for a "humanitarian" parole on health grounds.

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post captured on December 5, 2025, with an orange X added by AFP

Duterte, who served as Philippine president from 2016 to 2022, was detained in Manila on March 11 and taken to the ICC prison at Scheveningen, near The Hague. He appeared very weak, barely speaking, when he made his first court appearance by video a few days later.

The ICC is still to rule on whether Duterte is fit to stand trial on charges related to his campaign against drug traffickers and consumers during his presidency that rights groups say left thousands dead.

Comments on similar posts shared elsewhere on Facebook suggest users believed the lawyer was pleased that his client's request was denied.

"Duterte's lawyer is smiling a lot, maybe he'll get paid more millions. It's Duterte's fault anyway, he took the law into his own hands," read one comment.

Another said, "He has succeeded in getting another large bundle of money so Kaufman's smiling from ear to ear."

A review of a recording of the ICC hearing on November 28, however, shows the circulating image has been misleadingly altered (archived link).

The full recording, available on the court's YouTube channel, shows the manipulated image was taken from a shot of Kaufman at the 48-minute, 11-second mark when the presiding judge says: "For these reasons, the third ground of appeal is rejected."

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Screenshot comparison of the manipulated image (left) and the corresponding shot from the hearing's livestream (right)

The camera cuts to Duterte's counsel five times during the hearing, but at no point does Kaufman appear to smile.

Philippine fact-check organisation Vera Files has also debunked the claim.

AFP has previously debunked other false claims about Duterte and the ICC.