Malacañang: PH will comply if Interpol issues red notice vs Rodrigo Duterte
Malacañang said the Philippines will work with Interpol if it issues a red notice for former president Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Palace said that if Duterte wants to yield to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), “the government will neither object to it nor move to block the fulfillment of his desire."
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin also added that the Philippines would work with Interpol if it issues a Red Notice to Duterte. A Red Notice is a request "to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.”
“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," the Executive Secretary said.
'The ICC does not scare me a bit'
This comes after Duterte challenged the ICC to probe his bloody drug war on drugs as he might die before it happens.
"I am asking the ICC to hurry up and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” the former president said during the House of Representatives quad committee hearing on the alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration on Nov. 13.
According to him, the "issue has been left hanging for so many years… Baka mamatay na ako, hindi na nila ako ma-imbestiga."
Duterte said that if he is found guilty, he “will go to prison and rot there for all time.”
When asked if he would cooperate with the tribunal, he said, “the ICC does not scare me a bit.”
“They can come here anytime… Wala naman tayong taguan. Ang sinabi ko, ang ginawa ko, I did it for my country and for the young people, no excuses, no apology. I got to hell, so be it,” he added. “Bigyan mo ako ng pera, ako na pumunta ng ICC doon, ako na mismo magpaimbestiga doon.”
In previous interviews, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the Philippines won't cooperate with the ICC on its investigation into his predecessor's drug war. He said that the international tribunal had no jurisdiction over a country and that its probe was a "threat" to Philippine sovereignty.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 after the Hague-based tribunal started probing allegations of human rights abuses committed during his drug war.
It launched a formal inquiry into Duterte's crackdown in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen, and vigilantes.
Duterte has previously said that the ICC has no jurisdiction over him and that he would only face accusations against him before a Philippine court. (with reports from Alexis Romero)
