MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will not allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

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“We won’t recognize the warrant that they will send to us,” Marcos said during the presidential forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on Monday, April 15.

Since assuming the presidency, Marcos has insisted that the Philippines does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. The country withdrew from the body in 2019, during Duterte’s time as president.

One reporter asked Marcos during the forum: Is a rules-based order only applicable when it’s convenient for the Philippines? The question was in reference to Manila’s insistence on a rules-based order in the West Philippine Sea, where China has engaged in harassment tactics against Filipino-owned vessels.

“It is the rule of ICC that they come in when there is no judiciary, they come in when there is no police force. We have a judiciary,” Marcos answered.

Duterte is being investigated by the ICC over his bloody drug war, which killed over 6,000 people according to police records, although human rights groups believe the death toll is much higher. – Rappler.com