Malacañang will not object to former president Rodrigo Duterte's desire to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after he dared the ICC to probe his bloody drug war immediately.
"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," Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
However, if the ICC refers the process to the Interpol, Bersamin said the Philippine Government will cooperate with the body saying they "will feel obliged to consider the red notice as a request to be honored."
"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.
President Marcos has been constantly stating that ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, stressing that the country will not return to the ICC.
Palace also recently said that the "President is not expected to change his mind and not refer the quadcom matter to the ICC" when Marcos was urged to submit to the ICC the sworn statements of retired police Col. Royina Garma and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa on drug-related extra judicial killings.
During the quad-committee hearing on Wednesday, Duterte challenged the ICC to begin its investigation into his bloody war on drugs immediately, saying he might die before ICC gets the chance to probe him.