Marcos on Duterte鈥檚 arrest: 鈥榃e have commitments to the Interpol鈥�
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has clarified that the Philippines has to comply with its commitments to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) regarding the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Otherwise, the government risks not getting any help in the future from the organization, he said.
Marcos in an address on Tuesday night—held right after the plane carrying Duterte en route to the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands left Manila—said that it was Interpol that asked for help, prompting the Philippine government to oblige.
Earlier, Duterte was not allowed to leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 after coming home from Hong Kong. The Philippine National Police assisted Interpol in serving the arrest order from ICC. This arrest order is related to the crimes against humanity raps faced by Duterte, for his role in the drug war during his administration.
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“Mr. Duterte was arrested in compliance with our commitments to Interpol, hours before his arrival Interpol Manila received an official copy of the ICC warrant. This prompted the prosecutor-general of the Department of Justice to serve the warrant,” Marcos said in a late night briefing in Malacañang.
“Interpol asked for help and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfill. If we don’t do that, they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad,” he added.
Marcos also noted that they did not speak to ICC as he committed in the past, noting that the government assisted in the arrest because it was at the request of the Interpol.
“It’s very simple, it’s a request to the Philippine government from Interpol to enforce the arrest warrant. And of course, we comply with our commitments to Interpol. We did not do this because it was derived from or it came from ICC, we did this because Interpol asked us to do it, and we have commitments to them, and we live up to those commitments,” Marcos said.
“This is what the international community expects of us, as the leader of a democratic country that is part of the community of nations,” he added.
At around 11:00 p.m., the plane carrying Duterte left Naia. Prior to boarding, he was at the Villamor Air Base where he was held after arriving from Hong Kong early morning.
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, claimed that the ex-leader is being forcibly brought to a plane that will carry him to The Hague, the Netherlands, where the ICC is based.
There have been rumors over the weekend that the ICC will soon issue an arrest order for Duterte. During this time, the former president, his relatives and key allies, flew to Hong Kong to meet with overseas Filipino workers.
In Hong Kong, the older Duterte addressed talks of his arrest order, saying that his actions during the war on illegal drugs were for the Philippines’ benefit.
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However, several official and independent investigations of the drug war have shown that there were many instances where innocent individuals were dragged into the anti-drug operations. In August 2017, 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was summarily executed in Caloocan City even if he was not the original target of the operation.
The three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos were later convicted of murder.
