Sen. Ronald dela Rosa yesterday said that “it was expected” of Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to rebuff the Philippine government’s appeal seeking to stop the tribunal’s investigation into the extrajudicial killings and other abuses related to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“Expected na natin ‘yan. Eh ‘yung prosecutor naman talaga they have to fight for their side.
Kailangang paninidigan nila ‘yung prosecution. So, expected natin ‘yun. Wala naman bago diyan. Alam naman natin na hindi nila tayo papakinggan (That was expected. The prosecutor will have to fight for their side. They need to stand their ground in the prosecution. So, we expected that. There is nothing new with it. We all know that they won’t listen to us),” Dela Rosa said, adding he is not worried with the latest development in the ICC.
He said it is the international court which is violating the law when it comes to the issue of “complementarity” since Article 1 of the Rome Statute states that the ICC can only conduct its investigation if a government is not capable or unwilling to conduct investigations into killings under its jurisdiction.
Dela Rosa also said the ICC should not expect any cooperation from him, especially since the Philippine government has already said it will not accommodate any of the tribunal’s prosecutors when they come to the country to carry out its investigation.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has repeatedly said that the Philippines “will not engage with the ICC anymore and we will not honor any inquiry or any trials that they want to conduct in Philippine territory or involving the country.”
Dela Rosa said his legal counsel, colleague Sen. Francis Tolentino, will likewise not communicate or respond to the ICC except only when an arrest warrant is issued by the tribunal while he is traveling abroad, particularly in countries deemed “loyal” to the international court.
Khan has opposed Manila’s appeal to stop the resumption of the international body’s investigation into the alleged killings and other excesses related to the Duterte administration’s violent crackdown on illegal drugs.
In his 59-page submission dated April 4, Khan told the ICC that the Philippine government allegedly failed to prove that the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) erred when it allowed the investigation to continue.
“It is submitted that the Philippines failed to show any error in the decision, let alone identify any error which materially affects the decision. Instead, the Pre-Trial Chamber 1 reasonably and correctly considered the materials submitted by the Philippines and correctly applied the law,” Khan said.
Khan said the PTC was correct when it ruled that the ICC has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes committed in the Philippines despite Manila’s withdrawal in 2019 from the Rome Statute that created the court.
He reiterated the Philippines was still a party to the Statute when the alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings were carried out by the police in pursuit of the drug campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
