PBBM yet to issue directive on PH mission in The Hague – Manalo

The Philippine diplomatic mission in The Hague, Netherlands, has yet to receive any directives from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday morning.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo revealed this on the sidelines of his bilateral meeting with Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, who is currently on a two-day official visit to Manila.

“No directive,” Manalo quipped when asked whether he received an order from the Office of the President regarding Duterte’s case for the country’s diplomatic mission to the Netherlands, where the official seat of the International Criminal Court is located.

To recall, Duterte is accused of crimes against humanity before the ICC in relation to his administration’s war on drugs, which allegedly left thousands of Filipinos involved in the illegal drug trade dead.

Based on government data, at least 7,000 people were killed under Duterte’s drug war. However, both local and international human rights groups disagreed with the figures, stressing that the actual number of victims could be as high as 30,000.

No contact

According to Manalo, the DFA has no role in Duterte’s arrest as it has not been in contact with the ICC since the country revoked its membership in the Rome Statute.

“I am not really familiar with the procedure because, as we know, we are not a member of the ICC. In fact, we have not been in communication with them ever since we left,” he said.

The Philippines withdrew its membership from the Rome Statute in March 2018 upon the order of then-President Rodrigo Duterte. The withdrawal took effect on 17 March 2019.

Duterte was arrested early Tuesday upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He attended a Kingdom of Jesus Christ-hosted event with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong on Sunday.

During the event, the former chief executive maintained that he did nothing wrong when his administration launched its anti-narcotics campaign, adding that it was for the Filipino people.

“I heard that I supposedly have a warrant when I [return]. That ICC thing or something, those motherfuckers have been after me for a long time. Assuming what you're hearing is really true, why did I do that? For myself? For my family? For you and your child and for the nation,” he said in Filipino.