MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos Jr. remains firm that the Philippines will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) should the latter investigate former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs campaign.

“We do not cooperate with the ICC; that is the position of this government,” Marcos said in a chance interview Thursday. 

During the interview, Marcos also repeated Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin’s statement saying the government won’t object or try to stop Duterte if he decides to turn himself into the ICC.

“We will not block the ICC. We just won’t help. But if he [Duterte] agrees, he talks to them, or he allows to [be] investigated at the ICC, that’s up to him. It’s not our decision,” he said.

The chief executive likewise said that despite the government’s non-cooperation with the international tribunal and should the Interpol issue a red notice for Duterte and send it to the Philippines, the national government would not interfere due to the country’s obligations to the organization.

“As (Justice) Secretary (Crispin) Remulla explained before, we have obligations to Interpol and we have to live up to those obligations,” he said.

Bersamin said local authorities might work with Interpol if the ICC asks for help. When asked if this would help bring the former president to the ICC, Marcos said, “We’ll see how far it goes.”

The ICC is currently investigating the Duterte-led war on drugs campaign launched in 2016 that killed over 12,000 Filipinos with nearly 3,000 of the killings attributed to the Philippine National Police.

The investigation will also cover crimes committed in Davao City when Duterte was still the city mayor.

Duterte dared the ICC to “hurry up” with its inquiry on his war on drugs campaign, saying that if he is found guilty, he will go to prison

“I am asking the ICC to hurry up and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” he said.

The ICC may issue an arrest warrant for Duterte by the end of the year. The issuance of the warrant could start his trial before the international tribunal.