Marcos: Arrest of Duterte not ‘political persecution’

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has brushed off claims that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest was merely political persecution, stressing the government only complied with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

The former president is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody drug war.

READ: Plane carrying Rodrigo Duterte leaves PH for The Hague

In a presidential address on Tuesday evening, Marcos was asked to comment on allegations that Duterte’s apprehension was just political oppression and might be related to the 2028 elections.

“Well, I’m sure they will say that,” Marcos said, laughing.

He pointed out that the case against Duterte was initiated in 2017 — the year when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC and Duterte was still in power.

“So, I don’t see how that can be political persecution on my part because it was initiated before I came into the picture,” Marcos said.

“Once again, we have to recognize that, of course, it’s natural for people to put… political color, but we just followed Interpol),” he added in a mix of English and Filipino.

Earlier in the day, the Presidential Communications Office said the Interpol in Manila received the official copy of the arrest warrant from the ICC.

Marcos further stressed that the government did not cooperate with the ICC regarding Duterte’s case.

“We are not communicating with the ICC. They have requested many documents from us, but we did not provide anything. However, we cannot refuse Interpol when they ask for our help in apprehending this person,” he said.

In the same briefing, Marcos confirmed that the chartered plane carrying Duterte took off for The Hague in the Netherlands at 11:03 p.m.

This is where the headquarters of the ICC is located.

The drug war claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data. However, human rights watchdogs and the ICC estimated the death toll to be much higher — between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019. They said several of the cases are extrajudicial killings.

(2025/03/12-00:04)