Philippine officials deny coordinating Duterte arrest with ICC

Philippine senators on Thursday grilled government officials over their decision to hand former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court last week, with the country's justice minister denying coordinating the arrest ahead of time.

Duterte was detained March 11 and put on plane to the ICC in the Netherlands the same day to face a crimes against humanity charge tied to his drug war in which thousands were killed.

Speaking at Thursday's hearing, Secretary of Justice Jesus Remulla said the government had kept the ICC at "arm's length" until receiving the arrest warrant via Interpol.

"We never, up to now, had any communication with the ICC, officially or unofficially," he told the hearing called by Senator Imee Marcos, a close friend of Vice President Sara Duterte who is the daughter of the detained ex-leader.

But Senator Marcos, sister of President Ferdinand Marcos, pointed to language in the Interpol diffusion -- a more informal version of a red notice -- that she said suggested deeper coordination.

"This diffusion is transmitted after prior consultations with the government of the Philippines, who have agreed to comply with this request for arrest," the notice dated March 10 reads.

Remulla, however, said the wording of the notice was that of "a form letter" and not an explicit reference to the Duterte arrest.

"When it was mentioned that they coordinated with the government of the Republic of the Philippines, that made me wonder who they were talking to here because it was not us," he said.

Until just weeks ago, the Philippine government had steadfastly repeated its refusal to cooperate with ICC investigators, citing their lack of jurisdiction since Duterte pulled the country out of the international body in 2019.

That changed only with recent statements from government officials that they would be obligated to act if they received a request to do so from Interpol.

- Duterte seeks legal aid -

Joining the hearing via video link from The Hague, the vice president insisted her father's arrest had been aimed at dismantling opposition to the incumbent leader -- with whom she has fallen out spectacularly.

"This is all about politics. The administration is using government resources, the ICC to demolish the opposition," she said.

An hour later, she conducted an online briefing in which she urged voters to show their displeasure by turning out for her party's candidates in coming May mid-term elections.

"Maybe the reason the former president became the subject of an extraordinary rendition was because (they feared) the entire Philippines would vote for our 10 (senatorial candidates)," she said.

The feud between the Duterte and Marcos clans, simmering since they teamed up for a landslide win in the 2022 presidential election, exploded into public warfare this year.

Last month, the vice president was impeached on charges including an alleged assassination plot against her former running mate. She now faces a Senate trial that will decide her political future.

Duterte also said Thursday that she had spoken with new lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman and informed him her family would likely seek help covering their legal bills via the ICC's legal aid fund.

"Yesterday I told him there's a big possibility that we will apply for legal aid and this will not be a privately funded case," she said.

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© Agence France-Presse