Duterte asks ICC to disqualify 3 lawyers for drug war victims

Former President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I to order the ICC Registry to revoke the appointment of three common legal representatives for the victims of Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

In an 11-page document dated February 11, Duterte’s legal team also asked the Chamber to direct the Registry to suspend the access of lawyers Joel Butuyan, Gilbert Andres, and Nicolene Arcaina to the case record pending its decision.

The defense said they are seeking the lawyers’ disqualification on the grounds of an impediment to representation and on the basis of conflict of interest.

They claimed that Butuyan and Andres have a professional relationship with Arcaina, having worked with her at CenterLaw Philippines.

Due to this, the defense said they must be aware of a situation involving the lawyer, which was redacted in the document.

“To compound matters, the Prosecution has since confirmed that both Joel Butuyan and Gilbert Andres had been given access to [REDACTED] prior to 30 January 2026, when Counsel wrote his email to them,” the pleading stated.

“As such, both Joel Butuyan and Gilbert Andres should have known that Nicolene Arcaina was [REDACTED] at the same time that they were processing her appointment to their team,” it added.

The defense also argued that a conflict of interest will arise with respect to Arcaina’s role as a victim’s case manager and another undisclosed role, which the defense claimed as “structurally incompatible.”

“Whereas the Prosecution is a minister of justice tasked with a truth-seeking function and disclosure duties, victims’ counsel are partisan representatives owing duties only to their clients and are not subject to comparable disclosure obligations,” it said.

GMA News Online has reached out to the said lawyers and will publish their comment once available.

Duterte’s legal team previously opposed the appointment of Butuyan and Andres as representatives of the victims of Duterte’s war on illegal drugs during his term as President and as Davao City mayor.

The ICC Registry previously notified the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the appointment of legal representatives for the victims.

Meanwhile, the Chamber scheduled the commencement of the confirmation of charges hearing on February 23, 2026.

The ICC Prosecutor has charged the former President with 49 incidents of murder and attempted murder while implementing his anti-narcotics campaign, “although the actual scale of victimization during the charged period was significantly greater.”

Based on government records, around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug operations. Human rights organizations, however, say that the number may reach 30,000 due to the unreported related killings. — JMA, GMA Integrated News