MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Thursday maintained that the Philippine government will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.
Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and its decision to authorize an investigation into the killings under the government’s war on drugs is interference into the country’s domestic affairs.
He also stressed that the country has already withdrawn from the Rome Statute – the treaty that established the ICC.
In March 2019, the Philippines effectively withdrew from the Rome Statute after Duterte cancelled the country’s membership of the ICC’s founding treaty.
Under the ICC’s withdrawal mechanism, the court retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership period of a state.
The ICC on Wednesday said that its Pre-Trial Chamber 1 has granted then Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to formally conduct a full investigation into the Philippines’ drug war.
Bensouda previously argued that there is a reasonable basis to believe that murder has been committed in the Philippines between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the state policy.
But Panelo said the ICC can only conduct an investigation if the state’s judicial system is no longer functional, which is not the case in the Philippines.
It must also be proven that the state is unwilling to prosecute suspects in order for the ICC to launch a probe.
Panelo said ICC probers will not be allowed to enter the Philippines. He also believes that the investigation was politically motivated.
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