THE lead defense counsel of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte has called out Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro not to interfere with his job of defending his client.
Nicholas Kaufman made the remark in an interview with GMA News when he was asked to comment on Castro’s recent statement that he should do better in defending Duterte instead of relying on the findings of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on the March 11, 2025 arrest of Duterte.
At the time that she made the remark, Castro was reacting to Kaufman’s statement that he would submit the Senate committee report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to back their request for interim release and their petition challenging the tribunal’s jurisdiction to try the crimes against humanity charge filed against the 80-year-old former president.
“I’d kindly thank Claire Castro not to interfere with the job that I am doing, just as much as I wouldn’t interfere with the job that she’s doing, peddling the misinformation of her own administration,” Kaufman said.
“All I can say is that she seems to have a rather unhealthy obsession with me,” he added.
Earlier, Kaufman acknowledged initiatives calling for Duterte’s interim release from ICC detention, including the proposed Senate resolution filed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano calling for a house arrest on the former president.
Duterte has been in detention since March 11 after he was arrested in Manila based on an ICC warrant.
Kaufman said they are preparing for Duterte’s September 23, 2025 confirmation of the charges hearing.
If the confirmation hearing proceeds, it will be the second time that Duterte will appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber 1. He first appeared via videolink on March 14, three days after he was arrested and flown to ICC custody in the Netherlands.
