President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday categorically rejected the possibility former President Rodrigo Duterte would be extradited should the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue an arrest warrant for him.
Marcos rejected the idea during a press conference where he addressed a foreign correspondent’s question regarding the country’s stance on potential ICC actions against Duterte.
“We won’t recognize the warrant that they will send to us. That’s a no,” Marcos said.
The ICC has been investigating Duterte’s controversial war on illegal drugs when he was president during which thousands of people were killed.
As of 2019, the Philippines was no longer a part of the ICC’s Rome Statute after Duterte pulled out the country in 2018. This was after the ICC opened a preliminary investigation into his administration’s drug war.
Rights groups said that up to 30,000 people may have been killed, while government data showed only over 6,000 deaths in Duterte’s drug war.
Asked about the applicability of the ICC’s rules to the Philippines, Marcos said the country does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
“What is the rule about the ICC? When do they adopt jurisdiction? They have jurisdiction in a country where no judicial system is working, no police force is functioning,” Marcos said.
Asserting that the Philippine legal and policing systems were strong and active, Marcos dismissed the necessity of ICC intervention.
“We are well within international law when we take the position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines,” he said.
He had said as far back as February last year that he wasn’t going to assist with the ICC probe and that he saw the ICC as a threat to Philippine sovereignty.
