Manila – Malacañang responded to the latest allegations of Vice President Sara Duterte claiming that the International Criminal Court or ICC is a "puppet" of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The Palace also challenged the Vice President to release data regarding the alleged serious cases of gun violence in the country.

Speaking to reporters, Vice President Sara Duterte accused President Marcos and Senator Antonio Trillanes of being behind the ICC's actions.

"How do we characterize Trillanes and Marcos in relation to ICC, yes they are traitors to the Filipino and to the country, but more than that ang ICC ay tuta ni Trillanes at Marcos."

[How do we characterize Trillanes and Marcos in relation to ICC, yes they are traitors to the Filipino and to the country, but more than that, the ICC is a puppet of Trillanes and Marcos.)]

Vice President Sara Duterte called President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a traitor over his alleged coordination with the International Criminal Court to have former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte arrested.

According to the Vice President, who is currently in The Hague, Netherlands, PBBM appeared to have made an arrangement with the ICC to have his father arrested. She said one proof of this is the presence of ICC investigators in the country. She added that she had spoken with the President regarding the information she had been receiving about the matter.
"I wrote the president, why is the ICC continuing the investigation inside the Philippines, what did he say? We will not cooperate in any shape or form with the ICC because it is an infringement in our sovereignty, on that point he is correct, because our judicial court is functioning... that is the only correct thing that Marcos did or Marcos said about the ICC... but, his left hand was doing other negotiations. He was doing exactly the opposite. He was allowing the investigation to happen supported by the HOR and Antonio Trillanes."

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro responded that these accusations of the Vice President have no basis.

"Ang lahat po halos ng sinasabi ng Bise Presidente sa ngayon ay walang basehan, walang saysay, useless at nonsense. Maaaring ito ay kaniyang nasasabi out of frustration dahil ang kaniyang ama ngayon ay nililitis sa ICC."

[Almost everything the Vice President is saying right now has no basis, makes no sense, and is useless and nonsense. She may be saying this out of frustration because her father is now being tried at the ICC.]

Malacañang also stressed that the case against former President Duterte was filed with the ICC as early as 2017, at a time when President Marcos was still a private citizen. She said PBBM was merely complying with the law.

"Kung mayroong dapat sisihin, walang iba kung hindi ang kaniyang sariling ama dahil sa mga pag-amin nito na siya mismo ay pumatay at nagpapatay, kasama ang ibang mga co-perpetrators."

[If there is anyone to blame, it is no other than her own father because of his own admissions that he himself killed and ordered killings, along with other co-perpetrators.]

Usec. Castro also challenged VP Sara to release data regarding her claims of serious cases of gun violence in the country. This is in connection with VP Duterte's earlier statement that it is not certain whether the actual victims of the drug war are the ones on the list held by the ICC, since gun-related violence is widespread in the Philippines.

According to the Palace official, the administration's fight against criminality continues.

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