Palace: ICC bent on interfering with PH sovereignty

April 7, 2019

Malacanang has hit the International Criminal Court (ICC) for persisting to conduct probe on the administration's war against illegal drugs even after President Rodrigo Duterte withdrew the country from the tribunal.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement on Friday night that the ICC could no longer exercise its jurisdiction over cases relating to war on drugs since the country's withdrawal has been made effective last month.

"It appears that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is still pursuing whatever activity it has initiated against the President despite the country signifying that the Philippines never became part of its jurisdiction," Panelo said.

The statement was made after ICC acknowledged another communication against Duterte's war on drugs filed by the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) last year.

Panelo said the receipt made by the tribunal shows that the institution is "bent on interfering" the sovereignty of the country.

He added that conducting preliminary inspection means that the tribunal would contravene its own rules.

"For the umpteenth time, we cite Article 127 of the Rome Statute which states in part: 'a withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective'," he said.

He also explained that ICC could not gather evidence proving that the drug war was "state-initiated" until there is inability or unwillingness in behalf of the government to investigate on its own.

"In this connection, we urge any individual who has sufficient evidence to file a case before a Philippine court of competent jurisdiction and contend that the deaths resulting from the war against illicit drugs are State-sponsored," said Panelo.

"With the biased and preconceived actions of the ICC, we cannot blame the Filipino people for thinking that it has taken a politically-motivated obnoxious path aimed at maligning not just this Administration but the very Republic of the Philippines," he added. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS