Manila, March 21 -- A lawyer accredited by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday refuted claims that former president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest was "warrantless," stressing that it was legally executed in full compliance with Philippine law and international statutes.

In a Palace press briefing, lawyer Joel Butuyan said the validity of the implementation of the arrest warrant is based on Republic Act 9851 (An Act Defining and Penalizing Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity) and the Rome Statute.

"Both under our local law and under the ICC statute, complied with, valid yung implementation ng warrant of arrest (Both under our local law and under the ICC statute, the implementa...