Malacañang denied that the Marcos administration had taken a position on former president Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release from the International Criminal Court (ICC), after his lawyer cited Palace remarks in a filing before the tribunal.

Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said this after Duterte’s counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, told the ICC pre-trial chamber that the Philippine government had “no objection” to the possibility of Duterte being temporarily released to a third country.

In a statement on Saturday, Sept. 27, Castro said Kaufman has a record of misrepresenting the Palace’s stance.

“Atty. Kaufman appears to have mastered the art of twisting some facts,” she said.

The Palace Press Officer recalled that Kaufman previously claimed the ICC prosecutor did not object to Duterte’s petition for release, only for the prosecutor to later file a formal opposition.

“We want to be clear that the Marcos Jr. administration is not privy [to] and has no hand [in] the former President Duterte’s ongoing trial before ICC, particularly his request for interim release,” she said.

Castro stressed that the government’s position has remained the same—that whatever the ICC decides, it will respect the process.

“As part of the legal process, no matter what the ICC decides, we will still respect it,” she said.

Kaufman’s Sept. 26 filing cited Castro’s earlier comments about Vice President Sara Duterte’s travels abroad, where she disclosed that another nation had agreed to host her father if his interim release were granted.

“Her constant travels have borne fruit. So, if this is good news for them and whatever the decision of the International Criminal Court, the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will accept it,” the translated version of Castro’s remarks read.

The Vice President did not identify the country but said it was not Japan. Australia had earlier declared it would not host Duterte.

Duterte’s legal team filed the interim release request in June, saying the 80-year-old former leader was not a flight risk. He has been detained at the ICC detention facility in The Hague since March, after his extradition from the Philippines.

The former president faces charges of crimes against humanity of murder, linked to thousands of deaths in his controversial drug war. His confirmation of charges hearing, set for Sept. 23, was indefinitely postponed after the defense claimed he was unfit to stand trial.

Kaufman has since asked the court to adjourn proceedings, citing Duterte’s alleged difficulty recalling events, dates, and even members of his family.

Vice President Duterte, however, has spoken publicly of her father’s conversations about politics, corruption, and personal matters, contradicting the defense’s claims of impaired memory.