MindaNews fact-checked the claim made by the YouTube channel KABAYAN NEWS PH that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared he won’t allow the International Criminal Court to enter the country and investigate alleged extrajudicial killings committed under the “war on drugs” of the Duterte administration.
The claim is false, as Marcos said the ICC may come but the government or any of its agencies would not cooperate in their investigation.
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President Marcos did not say he won’t allow ICC investigators into the country, contrary to a claim on YouTube
KABAYAN NEWS PH on Monday (Feb. 5, 2024) posted on YouTube that former President Rodrigo Duterte might be arrested anytime by the ICC. It was titled “KAKAPASOK LANG AARESTOHIN na! Nakupo Delicado na! Biglaang pagtawag ni FPRRD, Humingi ng Saklolo” (Just in, arrest is coming! Oh my, it’s becoming dangerous! Sudden call from FPRRD, asking for help)
The post used the video of lawyer Harry Roque’s Facebook live on Sunday (Feb. 4, 2024) where he says: “…Tinawagan ako ni Tatay Digong (Duterte’s moniker) at ang sabi niya nakakuha siya ng impormasyon na anytime daw baka siya arestuhin…Alam nila na loyal sa mga Duterte itong Task Force Davao (Tatay Digong called me and he said he got information that he might be arrested anytime…They know that Task Force Davao is loyal to the Dutertes).”
After showing Roque’s video, the voice over said Marcos has said many times that he won’t let the ICC come and conduct an investigation of the alleged extrajudicial killings under Duterte.
“But due to the statements of Duterte against President Marcos our fellow Filipinos are now having doubts whether PBBM will really prevent them from entering the country,” it said in Filipino.
In an interview with reporters on Jan. 23, 2024, Marcos said:
“Let me say this for the hundredth time: I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines. I consider it as a threat to our sovereignty, therefore, the Philippine government will not lift a finger to help out in any investigation that the ICC conducts. However, as ordinary people, they can come and visit the Philippines. Pero hindi kami tutulong sa kanila. In fact, binabantayan namin sila (we’re watching them) to ensure that they won’t come in contact with any agency of government.”
KABAYAN NEWS PH showed the footage of the Jan. 23 interview of Marcos, but apparently overlooked or ignored the portion where the President says “However, as ordinary people, they can come and visit the Philippines.”
As of 3pm on Feb. 7, the post had over 89,464 views and 1,800 reactions. The channel has 99,000 subscribers.
The ICC had started a probe into the drug war deaths in 2016. Then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that the ICC will conduct a preliminary examination of these deaths in February 2018. The pre-trial investigation began on Sept. 15, 2021—covering crimes allegedly committed in the country between Nov. 1, 2011, the date the Rome Statute became effective in the Philippines, and March 16, 2019. This expands the scope of the investigation beyond the Duterte presidency’s “war on drugs” to also include killings during Duterte’s time as Davao city mayor.
On 17 March 2018, then-President Duterte formally notified the UN secretary-general that the Philippines was withdrawing from the Rome Statute. The withdrawal became effective on 16 March 2019, a year after its receipt by the UN Secretary General.
Government records say over 6,000 were killed in anti-drug operations from June 2016 until May 31, 2022, but human rights groups estimate that the death toll may be as high as 30,000.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories.
MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network.(H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)
