Former President Rodrigo Duterte may be seeking refuge in China due to a looming warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
Carpio pointed out that the Philippines is no longer a member of the Rome Statute, which means it has an obligation to cooperate with the ICC. He added that other countries can execute warrants of arrest against Duterte if he travels there.
However, presidential legal counsel Harry Roque dismissed Carpio’s remarks as ‘nonsense’ since the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC and has stated its intention not to cooperate with it.
The development comes after the ICC Appeals Chamber denied the Philippines’ appeal against the resumption of an investigation into the war on drugs under Duterte’s term. The Philippines had pulled out of the Rome Statute in 2019, but the Supreme Court ruled that it still has an obligation to cooperate with the ICC.
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