ONLY President Marcos Jr. can decide whether the country will rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) or not, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said yesterday amid calls for the government to review its position against becoming a member of the Rome Statute again.
“It’s a political decision. I can only explain the legal framework to the President, “Guevarra said when sought to comment on growing calls urging the President to reassess his earlier pronouncement that the Philippines will not rejoin the international tribunal.
Guevarra said that as the government’s legal counsel, he can give advice to the President on the issue, but the final decision will solely come from him.
Marcos had stood firm on his decision not to recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines and to refuse to participate in tribunal’s ongoing investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity committee in pursuit of the bloody drug war of the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The President cited the country’s withdrawal as a State party from the ICC’s Rome Statute effective March 17, 2019.
However, ICC Special Prosecutor Karim Khan argued that contrary to Manila’s position, the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC when the alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings related to Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs took place.
Khan stressed the scope of the probe covers alleged crimes from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
In January 2023, the ICC authorized the reopening of the inquiry after it was suspended in November 2021.
The ICC Appeals Chamber in July of the same year also junked Manila’s plea against the resumption of the drug war inquiry.
Guevarra said he has yet to exhaustively discuss with the President the matter of rejoining the international tribunal.
