President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr said the Philippines has no plans to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Marcos made the statement at a gathering in Pasig City this Monday. Last week, the president met with the legal team of his administration to discuss the ongoing ICC investigation into the war on drugs of the previous Duterte government.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, and Atty. Harry Roque, former spokesperson of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“The meeting that we had with the SolGen, the Secretary of the Department of Justice, including Senator Enrile who has become my legal adviser, among others, we — yes also Atty. Harry Roque because he is involved and recognized by the ICC — our mineeting (meeting) is because it is now being said that the investigation (on the war on drugs) will continue,” according to Marcos.
“Eh sinasabi naman namin may imbestigasyon naman dito at patuloy rin naman ang imbestigasyon, bakit magkakaroon ng ganoon?,” he added.
Marcos has no intention of rejoining the Philippines in ICC
In a notification dated July 14, the ICC gave the new administration until September 8, 2022, to provide observations on the plan to reopen the investigation.
Marcos said that among the things discussed in the meeting was whether or not the Philippines should respond to the ICC.
“If we will respond, if we will not respond, kung ano — kung sakali man sasagot tayo, anong magiging sagot natin; or possible din, basta hindi natin papansinin dahil hindi naman tayo sumasailalim sa kanila,” said Marcos.
“Pero the ICC is a very different kind of a court kaya’t pinag-aralan muna. Sinabi ko pag-aralin niyo munang mabuti ‘yung procedure para tama ‘yung gagawin natin. Kasi hindi natin siyempre kailangan — baka ma-misinterpret ‘yung ating mga ginagawa. Kaya’t liwanagin natin kung ano ba talaga ang dapat gawin, sinong susulat kanino, anong ilalagay sa sulat,” he added.
Those accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are brought before the International Criminal Court at The Hague for trial. After the United Nations made the Rome Statute available for signing, 60 nations did so in 1998.
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