Senator Imee Marcos revealed on Thursday that the Philippine government may have covertly cooperated with the International Criminal Court (ICC) months before the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Speaking at the second Senate foreign relations hearing on Duterte’s arrest, Marcos said a DOJ briefer as early as May 2024 indicated internal discussions about Duterte’s case and the potential re-entry of the Philippines into the ICC.
She also claimed that at least four ICC personnel, including investigators and protection experts, entered the Philippines in October 2024. These officials, according to Marcos, requested protection and transportation from local authorities and declared stays at Metro Manila hotels.
“This shows clear participation by the Philippines. So why are our officials denying it?” Marcos questioned.
Marcos detailed the ICC’s request for sensitive documents including:
- Bank records linked to a certain Peter Parungo (2016–2019)
- Blotters and evidence from PNP Station 6, Batasan Hills
- Hospital records and autopsy reports from East Avenue Medical Center related to police shooting victims
She alleged these documents were later used to support the ICC’s arrest warrant against Duterte.
Marcos also questioned the intelligence community’s failure to detect the ICC’s presence, despite years of funding, and criticized what she sees as a contradictory stance—highlighting that the DOJ formed a task force in November 2024 to build cases on extrajudicial killings (EJKs), yet still denied cooperating with international bodies.
She pointed to DOJ Order No. 778, which created a team to investigate EJKs, and mentioned a March 6 memo requesting more time to finalize findings. Marcos claimed there’s even talk of hiring private lawyers to draft complaints related to the deaths of three Davao prison detainees.
“If a task force exists and there’s already a draft complaint, why then would we need ICC and Interpol? This all contradicts the DOJ’s earlier claims,” she argued.
Top officials including Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla skipped the hearing, citing a letter from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. In an earlier session, Remulla maintained that the Philippines did not assist the ICC and only acted under local laws on crimes against humanity.
Duterte is currently detained at the ICC facility in The Hague, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity for his administration’s bloody war on drugs.