Panelo insists: Duterte’s statements 'hyperbole, bluster'

Former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday insisted that not all of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s past statements about the drug war were true, saying many of them were hyperbole or exaggeration.

Panelo, one of six Filipino lawyers sent by the Duterte family to The Hague, Netherlands, made the remark as the International Criminal Court (ICC) began the confirmation of charges hearing in Duterte’s crimes against humanity case.

“Doon ako natatawa kasi ‘yung mga presentasyon na ‘yun ay parang ipinapakita nila na lahat ng mga sinabi ni [dating] presidente Duterte ay may bahid lahat ng katotohanan," he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(The presentation was amusing to me because it seemed to suggest that everything former president Duterte said carried some truth.)

"Gaya ng ipinaliwanag ng depensa, karamihan dito ay hyperbole at ito ang istilo ng [dating] pangulo Duterte,” he added.

(As explained by the defense, most of it was hyperbole, which was the former president’s style.)

Panelo said Duterte’s tough rhetoric was part of his speaking style and was meant to instill fear in criminals rather than be taken literally.

“Ganoon ang kanyang istilo—bluster, kung tinatawag. At ‘yun ay ginagamit niya lang upang takutin ‘yung mga kriminal,” he added.

(That was his style—bluster, as it is called. He used it only to intimidate criminals.)

During the first day of the Confirmation of Charges hearings, Duterte’s lead counsel, Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, said the former president’s speeches had become “fertile fodder” for his critics.

“A man whose hyperbole, bluster, and rhetoric became a natural target for privately funded NGOs and human rights activists,” he said.

Kaufman added that the defense team had identified other Duterte speeches that contradicted those cited by the prosecution to support allegations of incitement to kill.

Panelo echoed this point, arguing that Duterte meant something different when he used the word “kill.”

“Ang problema ho sa kanila at ‘yung mga hindi nakakaintindi sa istilo ng pananalita ni [dating] presidente Duterte eh literal nilang kinukuha ‘yung salitang ‘kill,’” Panelo said.

(The problem with them and with those who do not understand former president Duterte’s speaking style is that they take the word “kill” literally.)

“They are forgetting that what the former president wanted to convey to the criminals, those who want to commit crimes, ‘kill’ means that they would hunt them or pursue them to the ends of the Earth, prosecute them and put them behind bars. ‘Yun ang ibig niyang sabihin (that’s what he meant),” he added.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines on March 11, 2025, based on a warrant issued by the ICC.

He is currently detained in The Hague, Netherlands, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity in connection with alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration’s anti-drug campaign.

Police records show around 6,000 deaths linked to anti-drug operations. However, human rights groups estimate the toll could be as high as 30,000, including vigilante-style killings.—MCG, GMA Integrated News