Malacañang: No commitment on ICC request to freeze Duterte assets

International Criminal Court (Photo By Choinowski/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Philippines has not made any commitment to comply with a possible order from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to freeze the assets of detained former president Rodrigo R. Duterte, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines to compel the government to act on any of its requests.

“There is no commitment on our part, on the part of the administration, if we will comply with any order issued by the ICC considering that the ICC as of the moment has no jurisdiction over the Philippines,” Castro said in a press briefing.

Duterte is currently detained in The Hague, Netherlands for possible cases of crimes against humanity. The filed complaints stemmed from his war on illegal drugs during his tenure as Davao City mayor and president.

Although the Philippines pulled out of the Rome Statue in 2019, the ICC maintains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed when the country was still a member of the international tribunal.

Castro also clarified that the government has not yet discussed rejoining the ICC or taking any action in response to the court’s possible orders.

“As we speak, we have not yet discussed any plan of rejoining the ICC,” Castro said.

“Iyong huli po nating nakausap ang Pangulo, tinanong po natin iyan nang personal at siya’y ngumiti lamang at sasabihin ko daw dapat na wala pa talagang napag-uusapan patungkol doon (The last time I spoke to the President, I asked him about and he just smiled and told me to say that there is no discussion about that yet),” she added.