A YouTube video claims that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has allowed the International Criminal Court (ICC) to come to the Philippines after former president Rodrigo Duterte dared the tribunal to do so. This is misleading.
The executive secretary said that the government will “neither object to it nor move to block” Duterte if he wishes to surrender to the ICC.
Uploaded on Nov. 13, the same day that Duterte asked the ICC during a House quad committee hearing to speed up its investigation into his role in the country’s drug war, the video bore the headline:
“ICC PINAPASOK NA NI BERSAMIN! MATAPOS HAMUNIN NI DUTERTE ANG ICC (Bersamin has let the ICC in! After Duterte dared the ICC)!”
Its thumbnail also carried a text that read: “ICC PINAPASOK NA NI BERSAMIN. MATAPOS HAMUNIN NI DUTERTE ANG ICC, PINAPASOK NA NI BERSAMIN SA PINAS! PERO SILA ANG MAPAPAHIYA (Bersamin has let the ICC in! After Duterte dared the ICC, Bersamin has allowed them in the Philippines! But they will be embarrassed)!”
While Bersamin said that the government will not stand in the way of Duterte if he wishes to submit himself to the ICC, he clarified that if the court seeks the intervention of the International Police Organization (Interpol), the Philippines would be obliged to cooperate.
At the quad hearing, Duterte urged the ICC to hurry up with its investigation into crimes against humanity committed under his anti-drug campaign, saying the issue has been left hanging for so many years. “So I’m asking the ICC … to start the investigation. And if I’m found guilty, I will go to prison and rot there for all time.”
In reaction to this, Bersamin said: “If the ICC refers the process to the Interpol, which may then transmit a red notice to the Philippine authorities, the government will feel obliged to consider the red notice as a request to be honored, in which case the domestic law enforcement agencies shall be bound to accord full cooperation to the Interpol pursuant to established protocols.”
In January, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the government will not block the Netherlands-based court from probing into Duterte’s drug war:
“We’re not here to stop them because if they’re not doing anything illegal, there’s nothing wrong with that. If they’re getting statements, they’re getting evidence. It’s okay.”
In July, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said that while the government will not lend any assistance to the tribunal, it cannot stop ICC prosecutor Karim Khan from proceeding with the investigation. Guevarra added:
“He can directly interview persons of interest online, through the phone, by email, or face-to-face, subject to the consent of these persons. But the ICC prosecutor cannot expect that the Philippine government will facilitate it for him.”
Uploaded by YouTube channel Robin Sweet Showbiz, the misleading video garnered 25,330 interactions. TikTok user @arlenebook reposted the clip.
