Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte in the crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of being the “real prosecutor” behind the proceedings.

In a media interview in The Hague, Netherlands, Kaufman said the ICC investigation was politically motivated and orchestrated from within the Philippines.

“The real prosecutor in this case is actually in Manila, sitting in his palace. He’s the person who threw President Duterte over here to The Hague,” Kaufman said.

“He’s the person who used the Office of the Prosecutor as a tool in his political campaign — and it won’t work,” he added.

Duterte was arrested on 11 March at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Director Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III based on a diffusion notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

He is charged with murder qualified as a crime against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.

Despite his arrest, Duterte won a landslide victory in Davao City’s mayoral race.

Kaufman described the result of the election as a “finger to the eye of the people who threw him over here.”

“That’s the real point of the elections. There was a protest vote,” he said.

Aside from Duterte and members of his family, their allies both in the national and local levels also secured fresh terms in the recent midterm elections, which many considered a “protest vote.”

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s closest ally, not only won reelection but also topped the senatorial race with over 27 million votes.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa — Duterte’s former police chief and co-accused in the ICC case — also secured a fresh term.

Sagip Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta was successful in his Senate bid, crossing over from the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos and Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar, both of whom were adopted late in the campaign by Duterte’s party PDP Laban, also landed in the so-called “Magic 12.”