Marcos Says Philippines to Stay Out of ICC

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said the Philippines has no intention of rejoining the Rome Statute, which will again place the country under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Marcos made the remark after he recently met with several officials from the ICC together with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, and other Philippine government officials.

"The Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC," Marcos said in a press briefing in Pasig City.

According to Marcos, the meeting was called after they were informed about the planned reopening of the investigation on the bloody war on drugs, which was initiated by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Ang mineeting namin ay sinasabi ngayon na itutuloy ang imbestigasyon. Eh ang sinasabi naman namin may imbestigasyon naman dito at patuloy rin naman ang imbestigasyon, bakit magkakaroon ng ganun?" Marcos said.

"Para alam natin ang gagawin natin, if we will respond, if we will not respond... Sinabi ko pag-aralan niyo munang mabuti yung procedure para tama yung gagawin natin. Kasi baka ma-misinterpret ang ating mga ginagawa," he added.

The Philippines left the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, in March 2019, one year after Duterte withdrew the country's ratification of the treaty due to “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration.

The decision to leave the ICC came after the court's Office of the Prosecutor said it would look into allegations of rights violations under Duterte's war on drugs.

Despite the withdrawal, the ICC said it had jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member.

At least 6,181 people have been killed in over 200,000 anti-drug operations conducted since July 2016, according to the latest official data released by the Philippines in July this year.

ICC prosecutors in court papers estimate the figure to be between 12,000 to 30,000 slain victims. --- with a report from Agence France Presse.

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