THE Philippines will not rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), President Marcos Jr. yesterday said as he reiterated the position of the Duterte administration that the country’s legal system is working.
Marcos, in an interview at the sidelines of the Pinas Lakas booster vaccination campaign in Pasig City, also said the alleged drug war-related deaths being investigated by the international court are already undergoing investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“No, the Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC…Eh sinasabi naman namin may imbestigasyon naman dito at patuloy rin naman ang imbestigasyon, bakit magkakaroon ng ganoon? (No, the Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC… we already said that there are investigations here and the investigations are ongoing, so why will there be an ICC probe?),” the President said.
The President said he has met with his legal team, among them Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, last week and discussed the ICC issue.
Also present during the meeting were Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and former presidential spokesman and private counsel Harry Roque.
Marcos said the meeting centered on if the Philippines would respond to the ICC directive for it to submit its comment on the request of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asking the Pre-Trial Chamber to resume its investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war. Khan has said that the investigations in the Philippines “does not sufficiently mirror the investigation to be conducted by the Prosecution.”
The request was made seven months after the ICC suspended on the request of the Duterte government its investigation into the supposed human rights violations that characterized the bloody campaign.
“Para alam natin ang gagawin natin if we will respond, if we will not respond. Kung sakali man sasagot tayo, ano magiging sagot natin o possible din basta hindi natin papansinin dahil hindi naman tayo sumasailalim sa kanila (So we will know what to do, if we will respond, if we will not respond. If we respond, what will be the response. Or possibly, we can just ignore them because we are no longer part of the ICC),” he said.
The President said he directed the legal team to thoroughly assess the issue and determine what is the best step for the government.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC in March 2018 on the heels of former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s push for the conduct of a preliminary examination on the alleged drug war-related deaths in the country.
The Philippines signed the Rome Statute on December 28, 2000. It was ratified and endorsed in August 2011 under the late president Benigno Aquino III.
The Duterte government, however, said there was no publication in the Official Gazette of the ratified treaty to make it binding. This was the reason use by the Philippine government when it withdrew from the ICC on March 17, 2019, or exactly a year exactly after the President announced and notified the United Nations that the Philippines was withdrawing from the court.
PRESIDENT’S PREROGATIVE
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he respects the decision of the President not to rejoin the ICC.
“President Marcos is the decision maker if and/or when to join an international organization or treaty. I disagree with his decision but since he is the President, it is his decision which will be followed,” Pimentel said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said it is the President’s prerogative not to renew the country’s membership to the ICC but said this was “regrettable” since the Rome Statute “is the collective commitment of the community of nations against state sponsored impunity.”
Hontiveros expressed hope that by not rejoining the ICC, Marcos will be open for any investigation for the alleged crimes against humanity which happened before the Philippines withdrew its membership from the ICC.
“Mandato pa rin nila ang mag-imbestiga, kaya dapat hindi sila maharang sa kanilang trabaho. Kung wala namang itinatago, dapat hindi matakot ang sinuman sa imbestigasyong ito (It is still its [ICC] mandate to investigate. I hope the investigators would not be blocked. The people should not be afraid of the investigation if they are not hiding anything),” she added.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT), a member of the Makabayan bloc, alleged the President is protecting Duterte and himself by deciding not to rejoin the ICC.
“By not rejoining the ICC, President Marcos Jr. is not only protecting his predecessor president Rodrigo Duterte from accountability on his bloody fake war on drugs but is also protecting himself from prosecution of the international court when he himself accumulates human rights violations against the Filipino people especially his critics and the opposition,” she said.
The militant lawmaker said the decision “bodes ill for human rights situation in the Philippines and may lead to more human rights violations.” — With Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
