MANILA - The Philippine government will not stand in the way if former president Rodrigo Duterte decides to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the office of the current president said on Wednesday.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement that the government of President Ferdinand Marcos would neither object nor block Duterte, who said the ICC should “hurry up” with its investigation into his deadly war on drugs.
“I’m asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” Duterte said on Wednesday during a congressional inquiry into the conduct of the anti-drug campaign while he was in office.
“If I am found guilty, I will go to prison.”
According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in anti-drug operations under Duterte’s presidency from 2016-22, during which police typically said they had killed suspects in self-defence.
Human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants.
“I assume full responsibility for whatever happened in the actions taken by law enforcement agencies of this country to … stop the serious problem of drugs affecting our people,” Duterte said on Wednesday.
The ICC last year cleared the way for an investigation into the thousands of deaths and other suspected rights abuses.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2019, when Duterte was president. Appeals judges at the ICC subsequently ruled that prosecutors still had jurisdiction because the alleged crimes occurred when the country was still an ICC member.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement that the government of President Ferdinand Marcos would neither object nor block Duterte, who said the ICC should “hurry up” with its investigation into his deadly war on drugs.
“I’m asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” Duterte said on Wednesday during a congressional inquiry into the conduct of the anti-drug campaign while he was in office.
“If I am found guilty, I will go to prison.”
According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in anti-drug operations under Duterte’s presidency from 2016-22, during which police typically said they had killed suspects in self-defence.
Human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants.
“I assume full responsibility for whatever happened in the actions taken by law enforcement agencies of this country to … stop the serious problem of drugs affecting our people,” Duterte said on Wednesday.
The ICC last year cleared the way for an investigation into the thousands of deaths and other suspected rights abuses.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2019, when Duterte was president. Appeals judges at the ICC subsequently ruled that prosecutors still had jurisdiction because the alleged crimes occurred when the country was still an ICC member.
