Marcos: No loyalty check on police, military

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not see the need for a loyalty check on military and police officials following the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte over crimes against humanity charges, Malacañang said Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Marcos was confident that the government was following the law when Duterte was surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday.

"Loyalty check? There's no need for that because the President is confident that what we did was in accordance with the law," Castro said.

She also dismissed claims that there were police officers who quit their jobs in support of the former president.

"If it is related to the government surrendering former president Duterte to the ICC through Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization), nobody resigned because of that," she said.

Castro said the reports were just another attempt to gain public sympathy for the former president.

"Many are spreading different stories that are not true," she said.

Castro appealed to the public to consider both sides of the story, especially the alleged victims of extrajudicial killings during Duterte's administration.

"We hope you open your eyes and see the truth. Let's not ignore the issue of extrajudicial killings," she said.

"People died and there were complaints. And these complaints were made in 2017, not during the current administration," she added.