Amid accusations of political maneuvering and allowing violations of the nation's sovereignty, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has asserted that the Philippines has only fulfilled its obligations to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and has not aided the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigations into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs.
“The arrest that we did today was in compliance with our commitments to INTERPOL. It just so happened that that came from ICC. But it's not because it came from ICC, it's because it came from INTERPOL,” Marcos clarified in a press conference on Tuesday evening, March 11.
On whether arresting Duterte infringes on the country’s sovereignty, he said that his administration has been “consistent,” in that it did not assist in the ICC’s probe “in any way.”
Furthermore, he explained that the ICC case had begun in 2017, before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute the following year.
“I don't see how that can be political persecution on my part, because it was initiated before I even came into the picture. Of course it’s natural for people to put... lalagyan ng kulay ng politika, pero sinundan lang natin ‘yung INTERPOL (to color the issue with politics, but we only followed INTERPOL),” the President stated.
“Hindi natin kinakausap ‘yung ICC. marami silang hinihingi sa’tin na mga dokumento, wala kaming binigay. ‘Yun lamang, hindi natin ma-hindian ang INTEROL pag sinabi sa’tin, ‘Tulungan niyo kami, kailangan naming kunin itong taong ito,’” he added.
(We did not communicate with the ICC. They asked a lot of documents from us, and we gave none. The only thing is, we cannot say ‘No’ to the INTERPOL when they say ‘Help us, we need to arrest this person.’)
Marcos pointed out that the INTERPOL had aided the country in capturing Alice Guo when she fled last year and in tracking down Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves in Timor-Leste, among other efforts, and the Philippines must reciprocate the support.
He also confirmed that the former president's flight was headed to The Hague, Netherlands, and that it had left at 11:03 PM that day. Moreover, he said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) had received the arrest warrant from the INTERPOL earlier that morning.
