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The International Criminal Court has warned of possible prosecution of Philippine officials for "seemingly" encouraging alleged extrajudicial killings.

In a statement on October 13, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda raised concern on alleged extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users in the Philippines, which may have led to over 3,500 deaths in the past three months of the Duterte administration.

"Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the Court," she said.

Bensouda said she is "deeply concerned" about the alleged killings and "the fact that public statements of high officials of the Philippines seem to condone such killings and further seem to encourage State forces and civilians alike to continue targeting these individuals with lethal force."

Bensouda said her office, in accordance with its mandate under the Rome Statute, would be "closely following developments" in the Philippines in the coming weeks and record any instance of incitement or resort to violence with a view to assessing whether a preliminary examination into the situation of the Philippines needs to be opened.

In a statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the president is willing to be investigated by any international body.

"In any case, the President has articulated that he is willing to submit himself for an investigation before any body," he said.

Andanar said drug-related killings, including vigilante killings, are not state-sanctioned.

He explained many who died were killed during legitimate police operations, which are undergoing investigation as directed by the president.

The Philippine National Police said 1,579 suspected drug personalities were killed. The number of people killed outside police operations are 2,133.

When Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency on June 30, he declared an all-out war on illegal drugs. In his public pronouncements, he told policemen to shoot to kill drug suspects who would resist arrest and would endanger their lives.

Duterte also said threatening to kill criminals or suspected drug addicts is not a crime under the Philippine laws.

Bensouda said that extrajudicial killings may fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC if they are committed as part of "a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to a State policy to commit such an attack."

The Philippines is a state party to the ICC and as such, the Court has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the territory or by nationals of the Philippines since November 1, 2011, the date when the Statute entered into force in the Philippines. Celerina Monte, Emmanuel Tupas/DMS