Gwyneth Perseveranda

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared that he would not stop the investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the implementation of the anti-drug campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Photo Courtesy of Frontline/Reuters.

In an interview on November 14, Marcos said that his administration would neither block ICC’s probe nor assist Duterte.

“If ‘yun ang gugustuhin ni PRRD, ay hindi naman kami haharang doon sa mga ICC,” Marcos said.

“Hindi lang kami tutulong,” he added.

The president also mentioned that the government cannot intervene if Duterte consents to an ICC investigation.

“Kung pumayag na makipag-usap siya at magpaimbestiga sa ICC, nasa kaniya ‘yun, wala na kaming desisyon doon,” he said.

On November 13, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced in a statement that they would respect Duterte’s decision to surrender the moment ICC verdicts him as guilty of his crimes.

“If the former president desires to surrender himself to the jurisdiction of the ICC, the government will neither object to it nor move to block the fulfillment of his desire,” Bersamin said.

Bersamin released this statement after Duterte, during the quad committee hearing on November 13, challenged the ICC to begin and hurry up its investigation before he perished.

Duterte’s war-on-drugs left at least 6, 252 people dead due to police anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to May 31, 2022.

Human groups also estimated that there were between 27, 000 to 30, 000 victims of vigilante-style killings.