In a 180-degree turn from his previous stand, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said last week that he may allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to proceed with its investigation on the alleged crimes of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
This after Duterte himself said he would now be willing to be investigated by the ICC and imprisoned if need be.
Marcos said he had become indifferent to Duterte’s on again, off again, wish to be investigated by the court.
“We will neither help nor hinder the ICC if (Duterte) is now open to being investigated. It’s his call,” Marcos said.
Duterte told the House of Representatives’ quad committee that he wanted the ICC to investigate him and his drug war.
He has, however, rescinded his statements multiple times.
The ex-president initially denied there was a reward system for police who killed drug suspects. He initially said he only treated Philippine National Police operatives to lunch or dinner after a successful mission.
More recently however, Duterte admitted that he “sometimes” gave rewards.
He told the House panel: “Reward? Correct. Very correct.” Duterte then continued in the vernacular, “Sometimes, I gave additional funds.”
But he retracted his statement at the same hearing
Duterte also told a Senate hearing that the so-called Davao Death Squads (DDS) were real and that one sitting senator — Ronald dela Rosa — was the head of one such squad.
Duterte also retracted that claim, saying the DDS was not a formal group but an informal group supporting his all-out war on drugs policy (extra-judicial killings or EJKs).
Marcos said he was “monitoring” the statements being made by Duterte in the House and Senate hearings on the controversial drug war where anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000 drug suspects were killed by the police in its “tokhang” operations.
This entailed barging into the houses of drug suspects and arresting them without a warrant. Those who fought back would be killed on the spot.
When Marcos assumed the presidency, the Department of Justice and the PNP said they would investigate suspected cases of EJKs.
Marcos said he was concerned for the families of the victims, saying that “up to now, (the victims’ families) have not seen justice for the murders of their children.”
And while his administration maintains the policy that it is not necessary for the country to rejoin the ICC, Marcos said they will uphold Interpol red notices.
In the event the ICC wants to arrest any suspect, it usually authorizes Interpol to do the job.
The Justice Department has stated that the Philippines will have no choice but to agree to the Interpol’s actions, as the country is a member of the global police organization in good standing.
Malacañang’s softening stance towards the ICC comes at a time when relations between the Marcos and Duterte clans have gone from bad to worse.
In recent months, Duterte has repeated the rumor that Marcos is a drug user, even as Vice-president Sara Duterte-Carpio exited the Cabinet last June. She also said that as far as she was concerned, the Dutertes are no longer allies of the President.
Marcos has generally avoided talking about the former president but his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and his son Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos have come to the defense of the President. —BETING LAYGO DOLOR (Contributing Editor)
