DAVAO CITY — Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he was ready to face the consequences and even "rot in prison," should the International Criminal Court (ICC) prove that his administration's bloody war on drugs committed human rights violations.

At the national prosecutors' convention here Wednesday, Duterte reacted to the ICC's investigation on the drug war.

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“I would like to reiterate my statement, kayong mga ICC, put*ngina ninyo, wala akong pakialam. You know why? Early on sa aking presidency, kung nakinig kayo, I would stake my name, my honor and the presidency itself,” he said.

(All of you at ICC are sons of wh*res. I don't care. Early on in my presidency, if you listened, I would stake my name, my honor and the presidency itself.)

He said that his drug war was similar to how he fought crime in Davao.

“Dito sa droga, sa criminality just like Davao, it is a matter of principle for me. And I will die for it. If I rot in prison, then so be it,” Duterte said.

"Wala akong pakialam, basta ginawa ko iyong dapat kong gawin. I’ll face the music, I will rot in prison and I will die in prison,” he added.

(I don't care as long as I did what I had to do.)

But the former president jokingly said that the ICC would not be able to go after him since he was meant to die early anyway.

“Hindi na nila ako mahabol. I expect na by 80, tigok na ako nyan… Ako kasi tapos na ako pagka-presidente. Presidency stopped my political career,” he said.

(They won't catch me. I expect to die by 80, because I've already become president.)

In a decision dated March 27, the ICC rejected the Philippines' request to suspend its probe on the drug war and the Davao Death Squad (DDS), saying the country failed to cite "persuasive reasons" to support its request.

As a result, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the Philippines would "disengage and end all involvement" with the ICC, insisting that the court does not have any jurisdiction in the country.

"We ended up with the position that we started with: we cannot cooperate with the ICC considering there are very serious questions about their jurisdiction and about what we consider to be interference and practically attacks on the sovereignty of the republic,” said Marcos, a known Duterte ally.

• Marcos: PH to 'disengage from any contact' with ICC after rejection of appeal to suspend probe
• ICC appeals chamber rejects Philippines' bid to suspend drug war investigation

But Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said he sent a memo to Marcos clarifying that the Philippine government's appeal to the ICC was still pending before the court's appeals chamber.

• Guevarra to Marcos: PH appeal vs ICC drug war probe resumption still pending

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