Outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks to his successor Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. after the departure honors for Duterte at the Malacañang Palace in Manila on June 30, 2022. Arman Baylon, Presidential Photo/File 

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that his administration would neither help nor block the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity in the drug war of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte. 

Marcos reiterated that the Philippines would not rejoin the ICC after Duterte on Thursday challenged the court to rush its inquiry into his anti-drug campaign. 

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“If ‘yun ang gugustuhin ni PRRD, eh hindi naman kami haharang dun sa ICC. Hindi lang kami tutulong,” Marcos told reporters.

“Kung pumapayag siya na makipag-usap siya or magpaimbestiga siya sa ICC, nasa kanya ‘yun. Wala na kaming desisyon doon,” he added. 

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The president said his administration would honor its obligations to the Interpol. 

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in an earlier statement said the government "will feel obliged" to consider an Intepol red notice should the ICC seek it. 

"We have obligations to Interpol, we have to live up to those obligations. We’ll see how far it will go. We'll see what the ICC does," Marcos said.

He added that reinvestigating the drug war following Duterte's statements during the House quad committee probe on Wednesday would be up to the Department of Justice.

"All of the testimony that was given yesterday really will be assessed to see in legal terms what is the real meaning and consequences of some of the statements made by PRRD if that would result in a case being filed here in the Philippines. We'll just have to see. The DOJ  will have to make the decision," Marcos said. 

He said the government was "always monitoring all of these things because the question of EJK has not yet been answered: who is responsible?"

"We had some mothers of some of the victims that were there and up to now they have not seen justice for the murders of their children. So that's the DOJ's responsibility to continue to examine all bits of statements of testimony of evidence to see if it justifies a case to be filed," he added.

Police said the campaign left more than 6,000 people dead, but rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

While the crackdown has been widely condemned and sparked an international investigation, only nine police officers have been convicted for killing drug suspects.

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The drug war has continued under Marcos, though he has pushed for more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.

The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte's instructions, but the tribunal has said it has jurisdiction over killings before the pullout, as well as killings in Davao City when Duterte was mayor there, years before he became president.

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse