President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the Philippines will ‘disengage from any contact’ with the International Criminal Court (ICC) it rejected the country’s request to suspend its drug war probe.
The ICC appeals chamber’s decision, dated March 27, stated that the Philippines failed to present “persuasive reasons” to support its plea to temporarily halt the investigation.
Marcos stated that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Philippines and that the country cannot cooperate with the court because it constitutes an attack on its sovereignty. He added that the appeal process has ended, and the Philippines has no recourse in the matter.
“We don’t have the next move… Hindi na tayo puwede mag-appeal. The appeal has failed and in argue, there is nothing more that we can do,” the president said.
“We ended up with the position that we started with: we cannot cooperate with the ICC considering there are very serious questions about their jurisdiction and about what we consider to be interference and practically attacks on the sovereignty of the republic,” he added.
Solicitor-General Menardo Guevarra confirmed that the country’s appeal is still pending but what has been denied is the request for suspensive effect, similar to a prayer for a temporary restraining order. While the Philippines has filed an appeal to the chamber, it has not been involved in the actual action.
The president’s chief legal counsel, former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, previously suggested arresting ICC investigators who would travel to the Philippines to conduct an investigation.
Human rights group Karapatan criticized the President’s “intransigence” and accused him of having no intention of bringing justice and accountability to perpetrators.
The ICC authorized the resumption of its investigation into the drug war and the Davao Death Squad killings in the Philippines in January. Government data show that 6,181 people were killed in Duterte’s war on drugs, but human rights groups estimate that up to 30,000 may have been killed, including bystanders and innocent civilians.
The ICC authorized the resumption of its investigation into the drug war and the Davao Death Squad killings in the Philippines earlier this year.
