Imee: ICC has no jurisdiction over any Filipino, ex-pres Duterte

Former senator Leila de Lima's release from jail after nearly seven years of detention for drug charges proves that the justice system in the Philippines is working independently, Senator Imee Marcos said Tuesday.

"The independence of the judiciary is present and true. Our court is a court of law and justice, oblivious of personalities or any political noise. Senator De Lima's bail yesterday was a testament to that," Marcos said in a statement.

On Monday, De Lima, a staunch critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, was released from jail after her petition to post for bail was granted by a Muntinlupa court.

De Lima has been in prison since 2017 for allegedly pocketing payoffs from drug lords when she was still the justice secretary to raise money for her 2016 senatorial bid.

Two of the three illegal drug cases filed against her were dismissed following the recantations of the witnesses in the respective cases.

According to Marcos, De Lima's provisional liberty through bail "bolsters" her position that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction in the country.

"It bolsters my position that from the start, the ICC has no jurisdiction over any Filipino, especially PRRD," she said, referring to Duterte.

"It has no business meddling with our justice system," she added.

Duterte is accused of committing crimes against humanity before the ICC in relation to his bloody war on drugs that killed at least 7,000 people, according to government data.

The data was questioned by both local and International human rights groups, stressing that the actual figure is higher than the said numbers.