In a libel complaint he filed yesterday against 18 former Marines, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV accused them of fabricating lies against him and allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The move, however, appears to have backfired on the former coup leader who has been accused of serving as the bridge between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Philippine security officials in the surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte’s lead counsel in the charges against him before the ICC, Nicholas Kaufman, said in an interview that Trillanes was the conduit to the international court, at the time Filipino officials were insisting on non-cooperation with the tribunal.

“Back in September 2025, we had Jesus Crispin Remula, then the Secretary of Justice, I think, saying that the country had no direct relationship with the ICC, which was why Trillianes became the bridge,” according to Kaufman.

Remulla, this time as the Ombudsman, came back and said Trillanes, who introduced him to two ICC personnel, discussed with him the protection of the witnesses against Duterte.

Kaufman said Trillanes’ distaste for Duterte was no secret; he was involved in the case right from the start.

“He was the person who refused to sign the Gordon report. He was the person who eagerly signed the Quadcomm report. He was the person who, when Attorney (Jude) Sabio died, withdrew his support for the communication he (Sabio) had filed in the beginning, and who came along with another lawyer, Gary Elejano — they filed a communication with the court,” Kaufman said.

He said Trillanes was always behind the scenes and “it means that if he’s close to the President himself, then perhaps there is some substance to the allegations that have been made.”

One allegation was that the handover of Duterte to the ICC was orchestrated from Malacañang.

Kaufman cited a recent interview with ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang in which the latter indicated the possibility of the court’s cooperation with certain personalities.

“I even remember the time stamp. It was somewhere around 18 minutes and 30. He was saying that the OTP, the Office of the Prosecutor, can conclude private agreements with private individuals, non-government organizations, and governments, obviously. That’s under Article 54.3(d) of the Rome Statute. So anything’s possible. I don’t know. I can seek further clarification. I’m currently contemplating whether I ought to do that,” Kaufman said.

What is his real role?

The international lawyer who has defended other prominent individuals accused of the same crimes as Duterte said he would seek clarification on “what he (Trillanes) was really doing.”

The actions that Kaufman is contemplating include seeking the disclosure of documentation through a petition with the Office of the Prosecutor.

“They can refuse, and if they do because they believe that I’m on a fishing trip as opposed to obtaining the document for some legitimate purpose, and I do have a legitimate purpose in mind, but I’m not going to disclose it to you, then I can go before the pretrial chamber or before now the trial chamber should we need to if the case gets confirmed,” Kaufman said.

He said that Trillanes’s motive for his involvement with the ICC will be one of the bases “for saying that this is a politically motivated case.”