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Even as the Philippine government allows the long-awaited case to progress, President Marcos insists it’s about Interpol cooperation and not International Criminal Court compliance
MANILA, Philippines — No politics, just a government “doing its job.”
After a long day of silence from Malacañang Palace, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. late Tuesday, March 11, defended the Philippines’ decision to send former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court, saying his arrest was done “in compliance with our commitments to Interpol.”
“Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfill. If we don’t do that, they will not – they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad,” said Marcos in a briefing in Malacañang past 11 pm.
The President, who once allied himself with the Duterte clan, added: “This is what the international community expects of us as the leader of a democratic country that is part of the community of nations.”
Interpol or the International Criminal Police Organization is the world’s largest international police organization that facilitates cooperation among member countries.
Duterte’s arrest
Earlier on March 11, Philippine authorities implemented an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity committed in his bloody drug war.
Duterte had just landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) early Tuesday, fresh off a election sortie in Hong Kong. From NAIA, Duterte was brought to the Villamor Airbase.
At 11:03 pm, a chartered plane carrying Duterte, former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, a nurse, and an assistant flew out of Villamor. The plane left Manila for The Hague in the Netherlands, former Duterte offiical and lawyer Martin Delgra told reporters. His arrest makes him the first Philippine head of state to be arrested through an order by an international tribunal.
The Palace had earlier said in a statement mid-day March 11 that government doctors checked Duterte and found him to be in “good health.”
No other updates were released from Malacañang following the written statement. A regular 11 am briefing was also postponed.
Plans into place
The warrant from the ICC and delivered through Interpol arrived on Marcos’ desk at around 3 am on March 11, the President said in his briefing.
“I said, okay, we’ll put all our plans into place. And let’s proceed as we had discussed. Now, that’s what happened. So, yes, there is a very clear document that will explain when the how on the short that will explain the basis on how we conducted this arrest of former President Duterte,” said Marcos, flanked by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Yet the day before, Rappler confirmed that national police chief General Romel Marbil himself was at NAIA to oversee preparations for Duterte’s arrival. Rappler first reported the issuance of the ICC warrant on Saturday, March 8.
Marcos said the Philippines “followed every single necessary procedure” in implementing the warrant.
Marcos, the son and namesake of a dictator Duterte once openly idolized, denied politics was behind the government’s decision to arrest his predecessor. “It’s not because it’s one person or another that we do the things that we do. Maybe in the past administrations, that’s what they do,” he said.
“But for me, it’s not like that. We are following the law. We are a member of the community of nations. We must live up to our responsibilities to the commitments that we have made to the community of nations. And that is what’s happened here. Politics doesn’t enter into it. He’s never going to be a candidate for anything. Why go after him? And in 2017, I’m not even a civilian yet,” he said, referring to the year when a a complaint was first filed against Duterte.
Yet even as his administration carried out a process that victims of Duterte’s bloody drug war see as a “critical step” to long-awaited justice, Marcos continued to distance himself from the ICC itself.
Marcos and his administration’s stand is that it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, since the Philippines unilaterally withdrew from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2018 under Duterte.
The Philippine President said the government’s decision to arrest Duterte and fly him to The Hague does not “violate” Philippine sovereignty.
“We are consistent. We do not help the ICC investigation. We have contact with them, naturally – but not on an official level. We didn’t help them in any way. 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,” he said.
The ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes committed in the early years of the drug war because Duterte’s withdrawal only became final in 2019.
Nearly three years ago, Marcos won the 2022 elections alongside Duterte’s eldest daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte. That alliance has long crumbled. The younger Duterte tried to enter Villamor Tuesday before her father’s plane took off, but was denied entry.
Human rights groups estimate that over 30,000 people died in the name of Duterte’s drug war. – Rappler.com
