Marcos Jr. said, Duterte's arrest based on Interpol request, not ICC warrant, no politics involved

Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. clarified in a media conference on Tuesday that the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte did not violate any laws.

This statement came after the 79-year-old Duterte was taken into custody by Philippine authorities on Tuesday upon his arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The arrest was carried out following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Oo, meron actually. I received it from Secretary Remulla at 3:00 AM last night. I looked at it and went back and forth. At 6:30 AM, he wrote to me again and said, 'We have it already, we have the warrant of arrest from Interpol.' And I said, 'Okay, we put all our plans into place, let's proceed with our discussion.' That's what happened now," Marcos Jr. said during the press briefing.

According to President Marcos Jr., the Philippine government merely complied with the request from Interpol.

"It's very simple. It's a request from the Philippine government through Interpol to enforce the arrest warrant, and of course, we comply with our commitments to Interpol. We did not do this because it came from the ICC; we did this because Interpol asked us to do it. We have commitments to them, and we live up to those commitments," he explained.

Marcos Jr. also emphasized that the arrest did not infringe on the country's sovereignty.

"No, dahil consistent naman tayo. Hindi tayo tumutulong sa imbestigasyon ng ICC, pero not on an official level. We didn't help them in any way. The arrest that we did today was in compliance with our commitments to Interpol. It just so happened that the request came from the ICC, but it was not because of the ICC," he clarified.

He also reiterated that the arrest was not politically motivated, addressing speculations that his administration was targeting the former president.

"I'm sure sasabihin nila 'yan. But this case started in 2017 when we were still members of the ICC, and it was during the time of former President Duterte. So I don't see how that can be political prosecution on my part because it was initiated before I even came into the picture," Marcos Jr. explained.

In closing, the President stressed that the government was simply fulfilling its obligations under international law.

"Government is just doing its job. Wala naman. It's not because of one person or another that we do the things that we do. Maybe in the past administration, baka ganun ang ginagawa, but for me, it's not like that. We follow the law. We are a member of the community of nations," he said.

As of this writing, former President Rodrigo Duterte is on his way to The Hague, Netherlands, where he is expected to arrive on Wednesday afternoon.