Senator Rodante Marcoleta has voiced strong opposition to the ongoing detention and prosecution of former President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, asserting that any legal action against the former leader should fall under Philippine jurisdiction.
Duterte is currently in custody in the Netherlands as he faces charges of crimes against humanity. But according to Marcoleta, international procedures appear to have bypassed both legal norms and the Philippines’ sovereignty.
During the Commission on Appointments’ hearing for 24 foreign service officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Marcoleta argued that the ICC failed to follow its own arrest protocols. He pointed out that under Philippine law, international crimes can still be tried within the country’s legal system.
“There is an existing domestic law that states even international crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the Philippines,” Marcoleta emphasized.
The senator also expressed hope that former Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo—now serving as the Philippines’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York—could help scrutinize the legality of the ICC’s processes and ask the necessary questions at the UN level.
