Former President Rodrigo Duterte on November 13, 2024 during the Quad-Comm hearing on the extrajudicial killings, addressing alleged human rights violations from his administration’s war on drugs. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATE 4) — The Palace on Sunday again assured cooperation from the government, through Interpol, if the International Criminal Court issues a warrant of arrest against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Rumors are swirling that the ICC has already issued an arrest order for Duterte, who faces a possible crime against humanity charge for his brutal anti-narcotics campaign while president and for extrajudicial killings in Davao City when he was mayor there.

Speaking on TeleRadyo Serbisyo, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro acknowledged the rumor but said she could not comment on it yet.

She said nonetheless that a hold-departure order would follow if a warrant of arrest is issued.

Hold departure orders in the Philippines are exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Courts and should be issued only in criminal cases, according to the Supreme Court. HDOs bar personalities from leaving the country without prior permission from the court.

According to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, they "have not received any notice or communication from the ICC" regarding a possible warrant of arrest against the former president.

"Our DFA is the official entry point for any such notice or communication as a matter of diplomatic courtesy," Guevarra added.

In a message later Sunday, Castro said the Palace has not issued any confirmation of the rumored warrant, "[b]ut as what [Executive Secretary Lucas] Bersamin and [Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla] said before, if Interpol will ask the necessary assistance from the government, it is obliged to follow."

While Castro assured the government's cooperation in Duterte's possible arrest, she noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has insisted that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction in the Philippines after the country left the body in 2019.

Presidential Communications Secretary Jay Ruiz, meanwhile said that "the government is prepared for any eventuality."

IMMIGRATION: NO INFO ON DUTERTE TRIP

The Bureau of Immigration said Sunday it has no information yet on Duterte's trip to Hong Kong, with Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado saying the agency will look into it.

"'Di pa po namin ma-verify 'yung matter na yan. So, alamin po namin," Viado said in a press conference regarding the re-arrest of a South Korean fugitive on Sunday.

(We have not verified that yet, so we will find out.)

Duterte left the Philippines for Hong Kong on Friday, reportedly to attend a thanksgiving event of overseas Filipino workers in the Wan Chai district on Sunday.

Although Duterte is a popular figure, there is no reason for BI to monitor his comings and goings since there is no lookout order for him.

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval later Sunday said the bureau has no information on a supposed warrant, which would not be within its purview anyway.

"As far as the BI is concerned po, wala pa po tayong nakukuha any such information na verified (we have not received any verified information on that),” she told ABS-CBN News over the phone.

She added the BI cannot disclose the former president’s travel details to protect his privacy.

“[S]a ngayon po wala naman pong anything barring their international travel, any order or warrant barring their international travel," Sandoval said.

(As of now, there is no order or warrant barring their international travel)

Vice President Sara Duterte has confirmed she will join the gathering in Hong Kong and is expected to return this week to attend the Araw ng Dabaw celebration.

LOOK: VP Sara Duterte bonds with sister Kitty in Japan  

Vice President Sara Duterte attends a gathering, billed as a thanksgiving activity for her father former President Rodrigo Duterte, in Hong Kong on March 9, 2025. John Go, ABS-CBN News

'FULL COOPERATION'

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in November last year said that the Philippines would "accord full cooperation" to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) if it issues a red notice against Duterte.

"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," Bersamin said.

PH will 'accord full cooperation' if Interpol issues red notice vs Duterte: Malacañang

Bersamin issued the statement after Duterte dared the ICC to rush its investigation into his war on drugs linked to alleged crimes against humanity.

Duterte claimed that the "issue has been left hanging for so many years… Baka mamatay na ako, hindi na nila ako ma-imbestiga (I might die and they cannot investigate me anymore)."

ICC ARREST WARRANTS 'SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL'

ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti, a lawyer representing some drug war victims, told TeleRadyo Serbisyo in a separate interview that she could not verify the credibility of rumors on the supposed arrest warrant.

Conti noted that ICC arrest warrants are secret or confidential and a separate announcement would be made to unseal the warrant to make it public.

That would be announced by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan.

Duterte tells ICC to 'hurry up' with probe: 'Baka mamatay na ako'

Conti and other observers had said in 2024 that the ICC may issue an arrest warrant for Duterte before the year ends. If that happens, it may signal the beginning of the trial, she said then.

ICC launches witness appeal on Duterte's war on drugs

She had also explained that a request to cooperate with the court could come in the form of a summons or warrant of arrest 

"Pag warrant of arrest, parang mukhang tatakas 'to, pag summons imbitasyon pa lang," she said.

(When it's a warrant of arrest, it seems like they will escape. With a summons, it's still just an invitation.)

The ICC has no police powers and relies only on nations' law enforcement agencies to implement arrest orders.

Vice President Sara Duterte attends a gathering, billed as a thanksgiving activity for her father former President Rodrigo Duterte, in Hong Kong on March 9, 2025. John Go, ABS-CBN News

PH WITHDREW FROM ICC IN 2019

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 after the Hague-based tribunal started probing allegations of human rights abuses committed during his drug war.

It launched a formal inquiry into his drug crackdown in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after the country said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen, and vigilantes.

The ICC's chief prosecutor later asked to reopen the inquiry, and pre-trial judges at the court eventually gave the green light in late January 2023 — a decision that the country appealed shortly afterward and lost.

The drug war has continued under Marcos Jr. even though he has pushed for more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation. —with reports from Agence France-Presse

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