Manila - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has said there is no chance of him going on trial at the
International Criminal Court (ICC), because "not in a million
years" would it have jurisdiction to indict him.
The fiery-tempered leader is the subject of a Philippine
lawyer's complaint to the ICC accusing him of making killing
"best practice" in his ferocious 19-month-old war on drugs.
The ICC last month said it had started a preliminary
examination to establish whether it had jurisdiction, and if
crimes against humanity had been committed.
"You cannot acquire jurisdiction over me, not in a million
years," Duterte said in a speech late on Tuesday.
"That is why I don't respond to them. That's the truth."
He added: "Believe it. They cannot ever, ever hope to
acquire jurisdiction over my person."
His government says the ICC has no grounds to get involved
because the Philippine judiciary and legal system functions
independently and effectively.
Duterte has previously called the ICC "useless" and
"hypocritical".
Though he says he would be open to any investigations by the
United Nations and ICC, he last week told security forces they
should not cooperate with them.
The government denies activists' allegations that drug
dealers and users are being systematically targeted for
execution.
Police say they have killed about 4 100 drug dealers, in
shootouts, but have no ties to unidentified armed men who have
killed hundreds of drug users.
Duterte has also said the Philippines' ICC membership might
be invalid on a domestic level, because Manila's 2011 accession
to the ICC's Rome Statute was not announced in the country's
official gazette.