Duterte is still hugely popular among many in the Philippines who supported his quick-fix solutions to crime, and he remains a potent political force.
He is running to reclaim his job as mayor of his stronghold Davao in May’s mid-term election.
Marcos, asked Tuesday what he would say to Duterte supporters, said the government was “just doing its job”.
“We must live up to our responsibilities, to the commitments we have made to the community of nations and that is what has happened here,” he said. “Politics doesn’t enter into it.”
Tiu said Marcos’ move to hand over Duterte to the ICC “entails a lot of risk”, but the president would not have taken such a step without contemplating the aftermath.
“Of course, supporters of the Duterte family will always be in their corner. I don’t think that’s going to change, no matter what the Duterte family does,” Tiu added.
“But also, there might be an image of being swift and decisive in acting on something that matters to a lot to the people here, so that might score political points for the current president too.”
A self-professed killer, Duterte while president instructed police to fatally shoot narcotics suspects if their lives were at risk and insisted the crackdown saved families and prevented the Philippines from turning into a “narco-politics state”.
At the opening of a Philippine Senate probe into the drug war in October, Duterte said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for his actions.
“Whether or not you believe it or not, I did it for my country.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/rodrigo-duterte-icc-arrest-hague-drugs-4993946
