By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos
MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday said it would let the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) exercise its authority on possible requests to freeze the assets of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the AMLC will be the one to decide, if the International Criminal Court (ICC) sees the need to freeze Duterte’s assets.
“Kung ito po ay magkakaroon man ng issue or magbibigay ng order ang ICC ituturo po natin, ibibigay po natin ito sa AMLC kung kinakailangan po (If there is an issue or the ICC issues an order, we will point it to, we will refer it to the AMLC if necessary),” Castro told Palace reporters.
Castro said it does not matter if the request comes from the ICC because the Philippine government “must give what justice should be given.”
“If there’s a need for that, ang AMLC walang sinisino. So, kung kinakailangan po para po mabigyan ng reparation, damages kung sinuman ang masasabing nabiktima then kailangan pong ibigay ang hustisya (The AMLC is unprejudiced. So, if it is necessary to provide reparation, damages if anyone can be said to have been victimized, then justice must be provided),” she said.
Under Article 93(1)(k) of the Rome Statute, States Parties are obligated to comply with an ICC request to identify, trace, freeze or seize proceeds, property and assets, and instrumentalities of crimes for the purpose of eventual forfeiture, in relation to investigations or prosecutions.
Duterte is currently in the ICC detention center in The Hague, Netherlands, following the implementation of an arrest order against him on March 11 in the context of the international chamber’s ongoing investigation into the Philippines’ drug war.
Duterte is allegedly criminally liable for the crime against humanity of murder committed in the Philippines between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 due to the war on illegal drugs waged when he was the Davao City mayor and later the country’s president. (PNA)
