By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — Malacañang will not prevent former President Rodrigo Duterte from surrendering to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he chooses to do so.

“If the former President desires to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the ICC, the government will neither object to nor hinder the fulfillment of his wish,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.

Bersamin also stated that the government is prepared to cooperate with Interpol if it issues a Red Notice.

“If the ICC refers the process to Interpol, resulting in a red notice being transmitted to Philippine authorities, the government will be obliged to consider the notice a request to be honored. Domestic law enforcement agencies would then be bound to provide full cooperation to Interpol, following established protocols,” he explained.

During the House quad committee hearing on Wednesday, Duterte, who was present as a resource person, urged the ICC to expedite the investigation against him.

“I am asking the ICC to hurry up. If possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow. This issue has been left hanging for so many years,” Duterte said.

ia/mnm

By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin stated on Monday (14 Oct 2024) that the Philippines will not rejoin the Rome Statute.

This announcement follows calls for the Marcos administration to submit information to the International Criminal Court (ICC) revealed during hearings in the House of Representatives related to the war on drugs.

The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC in The Hague.

Bersamin also mentioned that he does not expect the President’s stance on this matter to change.

“The Philippines will not return to the ICC,” he said.

“Based on this, the President is not expected to change his mind and refer the quadcomm matter to the ICC,” the Executive Secretary added.

It can be recalled that the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019, during the time of then President Rodrigo Duterte, chief architect of the bloody war on drugs where according to some report claimed at least 30,000 lives.

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By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Saturday (April 13, 2024) that the issuance of preventive suspension of Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib did not violate his right to due process.

“Firstly, this office ordered the respondent’s suspension to prevent any undue interference in the conduct of the investigation,” Bersamin said in a statement.

“[S]econdly, the preventive suspension of Gov. Jubahib was ordered only after the issues were joined in accordance with Section 63 (a) of Republic Act No. 7160 and Sections 1 and 4, Rule 6 of Administrative Order No. 23 series of 1992,” he added.

The Office of the President (OP) issued  60-day preventive suspension of Jubahin after it made a thorough assessment of the administrative complaint filed by Board Member Orly Amit against the governor.

“The OP found that the complaint sufficiently alleged grave abuse of authority and oppression on the part of Gov. Jubahib in connection with the recall of BM Amit’s service vehicle without legal basis,” Bersamin added.

Meanwhile, the OP remains committed to ensuring transparency and fairness in all administrative proceedings, the Executive Secretary said.

(el Amigo/MNM)