The Filipino Government says that it will not be entrued into the defense of Duterte ICC

Manila: The Filipino government will not intervene as the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte begins to prepare for his defense against charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Malacanang (Presidential Palace) (March 15) (March 15) on Saturday.

The CPI established the confirmation of the position hearing on September 23 to allow Dute and all the parties involved to be “properly prepared” for the previous trial, as well as to recognize their “right to be judged in a reasonable time.”

“This is the time when you will really prepare your defense. Maybe if you have witnesses, you can call them, make any statement or affidavit,” said Philippine news agency (PNA) reported the Palace press officer and the undersecutive of the Presidential Communications Office Claire Castro in an interview with Dwar Radio.

She reiterated that the Filipino government had given Duterte the necessary assistance, including medical services and “attention package”, from the moment it was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on Tuesday morning until it was sent to Hague, the Netherlands.

She said the government would not assume the travel expenses of witnesses to the Duterte camp.

Castro said the Duterte camp is able to send its own team to The Hague, since some of its allies, including former presidential spokesman Harry Roque and Senator Robin Padilla, were there using their own money.

“I think they can do that. They will be the ones who prepare for that. The Government will not interfere with anything they do in their preparations for their defect,” he said.

According to PNA, Castro said that Duterte’s case was not even discussed during a meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday.

He added the assistance that the Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands can extend to Duterte would not be mandatory.

However, he said that the Government would continue to monitor developments to keep the public updated.

“But, of course, we will still monitor so that people are still aware of what is happening at the audience,” Castro said.

Castro advised the public not to believe the sellers of false news that are disseminating false information after Duterte’s arrest.

Duterte faces charges against the CPI for the crime against humanity of the murder of 19 alleged drug criminals between 2011 and 2016, when he was still the mayor of the city of Davao.

It is also suspicious in the murder of another 245 drug suspects when he was president, as of 2016 and before the country withdrew from the ICC from March 17, 2018. – Bernama/PNA