A briefer on the legal options available to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding the arrest warrants that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue, according to an official of the Department of Justice (DOJ), is now underway.
This was according to DOJ Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Mico Clavano on Wednesday, saying, "The briefer will be an objective analysis of the pros and cons of each option."
He added that the briefer is being done "with an awareness that policy frameworks may evolve."
The remark was issued by Clavano when sought for comment on the possibility of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant soon in relation with the Duterte administration's war against illegal drugs, as claimed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Former lawmaker Trillanes said the ICC may push for the arrest warrant through the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
"This will come in batches. The first batch is for Rodrigo Duterte, the father. The second batch may be against Bong Go, Bato, and Vice President Sara Duterte. The third batch would be some PNP officials and some other senior officials of the Duterte administration," claimed Trillanes.
Earlier, President Marcos said that his government will not serve any arrest warrant from the ICC against former President Duterte. "We don't recognize the warrant that they will send to us. That's a no," Marcos said in April.
Marcos also said that he does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines, adding that he considers it a threat to the country's sovereignty.
"We are well within international law when we take the position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of ICC in the Philippines," Marcos added.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra have maintained that the government has no legal duty to cooperate with the ICC since the country is no longer a member of it.
The Philippines, under Duterte, withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC in 2019 after the tribunal began a probe into his administration's drug war.
The scope of the ICC probe included killings that transpired from November 2011 until March 2019, including those killings made by the Davao Death Squad when the elder Duterte was still the mayor of Davao City before assuming the presidency in June 2016.