PNP won’t enforce possible ICC arrest warrant vs Duterte —spox

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said it will not enforce the possible arrest warrant that will be issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a press briefing, PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo was asked if the police organization will not enforce the arrest warrant against Duterte in case the ICC issues it. 

“Yes, because there is already a question of jurisdiction kasi ito ay sa tingin natin ay panghihimasok sa sovereignty ng ating bansa,” Fajardo said.

(Yes, because there is already a question of jurisdiction because we think this is an interference with the sovereignty of our country.)

“At lagi nating sinasabi hindi lang [in] the eyes of the PNP pati na rin sa mga concerned government agencies, na ang judicial system natin is working,” she added.

(And we always say, not only in the eyes of the PNP but also other concerned government agencies, that our judicial system is working.)

Fajardo made the statement after former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte told him he received information that he may be arrested any time in connection with the ICC’s probe into his administration’s drug war.

In January this year, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said a warrant of arrest is expected to be issued soon against Duterte and other respondents under ICC’s probe. He said the ICC probers arrived in the country in December 2023 and were able to conduct interviews with concerned individuals.

Trillanes added that the said investigators of the international body have finished gathering information on Duterte and the others involved.

Meanwhile, in an ambush interview in San Juan on Wednesday, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Duterte should cooperate with the ICC investigation to enable him to "present his side."

Carpio said that this would be "the best thing to do" for Duterte to prove his innocence.  

“He should cooperate because if you don't show up there, then your voice is not heard, your side is not heard. So if you are innocent, you really believe you're innocent, the best thing to do is to go there and present your side,” Carpio said in an ambush interview.

Under Duterte’s administration, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, the treaty that established the ICC.

This came after the tribunal began a probe into the drug war, followed by a formal inquiry in September 2021.

In January 2023, the ICC authorized reopening the inquiry after it was suspended in November 2021.

The ICC Appeals Chamber in July 2023 also denied the government’s appeal against the resumption of the inquiry.

In November 2023, however, Marcos said that returning into the fold of the international tribunal is “under study” even though he maintained that there are “problems” on the issue of jurisdiction.

Under the drug war, at least 6,200 suspects were killed in police operations based on government records. Human rights groups, however, claimed the actual death toll could be from 12,000 to 30,000. —AOL/KBK, GMA Integrated News