DESPITE a pronouncement from President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Romualdez Marcos Jr. that he is firm in recognizing the jurisdiction of the Internation Criminal Court (ICC) regarding crimes against humanity committed by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, executive secretary Lucas Bersamin disclosed that the Marcos administration will not object or oppose if Duterte wants to surrender himself to the jurisdiction of the international tribunal.
This was in reaction to a statement from the erstwhile Davao strongman who dared the ICC to come to the Philippines as early as yesterday (November 14, 2024) and investigate him over the alleged abuses he had ordered committed during his brutal anti-drug campaign as mayor of Davao City and eventually president of the Republic.
Bersamin clarified that “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.”
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019 after The Hague-based tribunal announced it will begin a probe into the Duterte administration’s drug war that based on government records, caused the deaths of some 6,200 drug suspects. Human rights organizations, however, say that this number may even reach as much as 30,000 due to the unreported incidents of extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
Bersamin likewise revealed that should the ICC refer the process to the International Criminal Police Organization’s (Interpol), the Marcos administration “will feel obliged” to cooperate should the anti-crime organization issue a red notice to Philippine authorities.
According to the Interpol, a red notice is a “request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.”
The executive secretary cited that “(t)he 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 under established protocols.”
Earlier in August, justice secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla stated that the government is not in the business of blocking any movement of the Interpol, stressing that “to reiterate the DoJ (department of Justice)’s position for clarity, (he) has repeatedly said that despite the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the (Philippines) remains a member country of the Interpol.”
Thus, when requests are made by the ICC through the Interpol and Interpol, in turn, relays such requests to the Philippine government, our authorities are legally obliged to accord due course to the same, by all means.
If this happens, we believe that soon Duterte has to “face the music” as the noose tightens around his neck.

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