Malacañang said there is no commitment on the part of Marcos administration to comply with the International Criminal Court's (ICC) alleged plan to freeze the assets of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
If the ICC issues an order to freeze the assets of the former president, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the current administration is not committed to cooperating with the ICC, pointing out that the international court has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
"When it comes to the alleged incoming freeze order to be issued by the ICC, there is no commitment on our part, on the part of the administration if we will comply with any order issued by the ICC considering that the ICC as of the moment has no jurisdiction over the Philippines," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday, March 25.
In a previous Palace briefing, Castro said if the ICC makes a request to freeze the assets of Duterte, the government will let the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) handle it.
She then said the request will be directed to the AMLC should the ICC deems it as a reparation for the victims of crimes against humanity, which Duterte was charged with.
Meanwhile, the AMLC said they "have yet to receive an official request from the ICC or from the relevant government agency responsible for addressing the matter." It added that "it would be premature to comment further."
However, the AMLC explained that if a request from the ICC does arise, it will be evaluated, and relevant government agencies will be consulted to determine the Philippines' response to a potential ICC request for enforcement of its order.
Forfeiture of benefits?
If in case the ICC rules against Duterte on the cases over humanity, would the former president be stripped off his benefits entitled to former Philippine presidents? Castro said it is highly hypothetical.
"Kung pag-uusapan po natin kung magkakaroon na ng decision ang ICC, unang-una napaka-hypothetical. If ever man na ito ay papabor, wala tayong pag-uusapan tungkol sa anumang forfeiture of benefits (If it is being discussed according to ICC decision, first of all it is very hypothetical. If ever it favors him, we have no discussion of any forfeiture)," Castro said.
"Kung ito naman po ay hindi papabor kay dating pangulong Duterte, kailangan pa rin po ng isang order mula sa korte dahil as of now, sabi nga po natin ay wala pong jurisdiction ang ICC sa Pilipinas. So, maaari po siguro—hindi po natin alam kung kailan matatapos ang kaso at hindi po natin alam kung sa ngayong kasalukuyan o sa susunod na magiging presidente po (If it will not favor former president Duterte, there must be a court order because as of now we are not under the jurisdiction of he ICC. So, we do not know whether the case will be over on Marcos' term or the next president's)," Castro added.
The Palace official also reiterated that there is no discussion yet on the country's plan of rejoining the ICC. Castro said President Marcos only reacted to the queries of rejoining the Rome Statute with a smile.
"As we speak, we have not yet discussed any plan of rejoining the ICC," she said.
"Iyong huli po nating nakausap ang Pangulo, tinanong po natin iyan nang personal at siya’y ngumiti lamang at sasabihin ko daw dapat na wala pa talagang napag-uusapan patungkol doon (The last time we talked to the President, we asked it to him personally and he just smiled and told me to say that there is still no discussions about it)," she added.
ICC agrees Duterte arrest was according to law
The Palace reacted to the ICC's statement, thanking the Philippine government for cooperating in the arrest of Duterte, saying it only shows that the arrest did not violate the law.
Castro said it only means that the ICC believes there is no truth in the claims that it was a warrantless arrest.
"Opo, nagpasalamat po sila sa ating nagawa. Kung ang nagsalita mismo po ay mula sa ICC, ipinapalagay natin ang ating naging pakikipagtulungan sa Interpol at ang ating pag-i-implement ng ating batas na RA 9851 ay walang nilalabag na batas. Sumasang-ayon ang ICC na ang pag-surrender natin sa dating pangulong Duterte ay naaayon din sa kanilang batas or rules (Yes, they thanked us for what we did. If the it came from the ICC, then we can say that the cooperation we offered to the Interpol and the enforcement of RA 9851 did not violate any law. The ICC agrees that surrendering former president Duterte was according to their laws or rules)," Castro said.
"Kaya sa aming tingin, ang administrasyon ay wala pong nilabag na batas at iyon din po ang nakikita nating pananaw ng ICC (In our view, the administration did not violate the law, and that was what we see in the ICC's views)," Castro added.