(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said all testimony provided by former president Rodrigo Duterte during congressional hearings will be considered for a possible case buildup in the government’s investigation of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during his administration’s war on drugs.
Speaking to reporters, Marcos said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would assess Duterte’s statements to determine their legal consequences.
“Right now, that is being done by the PNP. And so, we’re waiting for their findings. But you know, all of the testimony that was given yesterday really — will be taken in and will be assessed to see what — in legal terms, what is the real meaning and consequence of some of the statements made by PRRD,” Marcos said, referring to Duterte.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. PCO Photo
“Now, if that will result in a case being filed here in the Philippines, we will just have to see. The DOJ will have to make that assessment,” he added.
The president said the government was “always monitoring all of these things because the question of EJK has not yet been answered: who is responsible?”
“We had some mothers of some of the victims that were there, and up to now, they have not seen the justice for the murders of their children,” Marcos said.
“So that is the DOJ’s responsibility to continue to examine all bits of comments, of statements, of testimony, and eventually of evidence, to see if that justifies a case to be filed,” he added.
The president also reiterated the Philippines’ stance that it would not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite Duterte’s challenge for the court to investigate him.
“If that’s what he (Duterte) wants, we will not block the ICC. But we will not help. But if he consents to be interviewed or investigated by the ICC, that is up to him. We don’t have any decision on that matter,” Marcos said.
“We do not cooperate with the ICC. That is the position of this government,” he added.
Marcos, however, said that the Philippines would fulfill its obligations with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) if the ICC seeks its intervention.
“As (Justice) Secretary (Jesus Crispin) Remulla explained before, we have obligations to Interpol and we have to live up to those obligations,” he said.
Marcos issued the statement following Duterte’s call for the ICC during a House quad committee hearing on Wednesday to immediately begin its probe into alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s war on drugs.
Duterte said he was also willing to “go to prison and rot there for all time,” if found guilty.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin earlier said the government would not object if Duterte wanted to surrender himself to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
“But if the ICC refers the process to the Interpol, which may then transmit a red notice to the Philippine authorities, the government will feel obliged to consider the red notice as a request to be honored, in which case the domestic law enforcement agencies shall be bound to accord full cooperation to the Interpol pursuant to established protocols,” Bersamin said in a statement on Wednesday.
A “red notice” is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
However, a red notice is not an international arrest warrant and is restricted to law enforcement use only.
An individual placed on a red notice is wanted by a requesting member country or international tribunal.
The ICC is currently gathering evidence in its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity associated with Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippines.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019 after The Hague-based tribunal began a probe into the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Based on government records, around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug operations. Human rights organizations, however, say the actual number may reach 30,000.
Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña called Duterte’s latest challenge to the ICC an “empty bluff.”
“Let’s go, Mr. Duterte, to the ICC. We are prepared to help bring you there and hold you accountable for the thousands of innocent lives lost under your bloody drug war,” Cendaña said.
He also said Duterte’s latest ICC challenge is more than just a mere invitation, but also exposed “a man attempting to control the narrative while evading serious allegations.”
“Duterte’s claim to welcome an ICC probe rings hollow, especially after years of avoiding accountability. His words are a desperate tactic to deflect and manipulate,” Cendaña said. “But justice is relentless, and the truth will not be intimidated by theatrics.”
The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition on Thursday welcomed Bersamin’s statement that the government would not stand in the way of the ICC, saying it was a positive step in the country’s commitment to international accountability mechanisms.
“We hope that the government will remain consistent in this stance if the ICC ultimately issues a warrant against Duterte,” the group said.
However, the coalition’s chairman, Sonny Matula, doubts if Duterte is sincere in his statements in the House of Representatives that he will voluntarily surrender to the ICC.
“I highly doubt Duterte would voluntarily surrender to the ICC,” he said.
“Duterte was afraid even when he was in power … That’s why he removed the Philippines from the ICC in 2018, when they started investigating him, in order to avoid accountability,” the group said in Filipino.
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