President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday the criticism of US National Security Adviser John Bolton against the International Criminal Court (ICC) was "quite refreshing to us."

In a speech in a military camp in Capas, Tarlac, Duterte welcomed the "international pressure" to the ICC after Bolton recently warned its officials of sanctions if they pursue the probe against the American troops in Afghanistan for alleged war crimes.

"It's good that there is an international pressure to ICC because Bolton told them b***s***. Well, he is really a very far right in America, Trump's ally and he has criticized the ICC," he said.

"So the timely word of Bolton now is quite refreshing to us especially that I'm the noisiest in disrespecting them (ICC) because they are also disrespecting us," Duterte added.

Duterte said he was the first to hit ICC, which is now handling the complaint against Duterte for his alleged crimes against humanity due to his bloody war on drugs.

Early this year, Duterte ordered the Philippine withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, citing the government's lack of publication on the treaty. Celerina Monte/DMS