Sara: ICC meddling an ‘insult’

Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday urged lawmakers to respect the position of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to not cooperate in the investigation by the International Criminal Court into alleged drug-related state killings during the previous administration.

Duterte, a daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, issued the call amid joint meetings being convened in the House of Representatives regarding the ICC's jurisdiction over the Philippines or lack thereof.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., chair of the House Human Rights Commission, has filed a resolution asking the relevant Philippine government agencies to cooperate with the ICC.

The elder Duterte is seen as the target of the ICC investigation into the thousands of alleged drug-related killings during his 2016-2022 presidency and, before that, the purported killings by the Davao death squad when he was mayor of the city in Mindanao.

The Vice President reminded lawmakers of the words President Marcos uttered less than half a year ago: "Any probe conducted by the ICC would be an intrusion into our internal matters and a threat to our sovereignty."

"We are done talking with the ICC. Like we have been saying from the beginning, we will not cooperate with them in any way, shape, or form," Marcos had said.

Duterte pointed out that, given the clear stand of the President, the House should respect his position as the "chief architect" of the country's foreign policy.

The President, she said, is of the position that the ICC ceased to have jurisdiction over the Philippines upon the effectivity of the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute on 17 March 2019.

"To allow ICC prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes that are now under the exclusive jurisdiction of our prosecutors and our courts is not only patently unconstitutional but effectively belittles and degrades our legal institutions," Duterte said.

"Let us not insult and disgrace our courts by showing the world that we believe that only foreigners have the ability to give justice to our country," she added.

Earlier, the House under Speaker Martin Romualdez realigned the P650 million in confidential funds the Vice President had sought for her office and the Department of Education, which she heads. She later withdrew the funding request.

Political pundits have said that the recent political developments have something to do with the perceived positioning of the Vice President and Speaker Romualdez to run for president in 2028.

Both Duterte and Romualdez, however, have brushed off any drives by their respective camps to position them this early as presidential candidates.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla echoed the Vice President's sentiments on the drug probe.

He reiterated his statement on 25 October that nothing had changed regarding the fact that the ICC ceased to have jurisdiction over the Philippines after the country withdrew from the ICC in 2019.

Remulla admitted that the Marcos administration's stand on the ICC could still change.  "We can't say this cannot change because laws can change."

The Makabayan opposition bloc of lawmakers has asked the President to clear the way for an ICC probe.                                                                           

The ICC Appeals Chamber on 18 July denied the Philippines' appeal to stop its investigation. The chamber ordered the ICC prosecutor to resume its probe into the drug war before and during the Duterte administration.

The ICC has said its investigation would cover the period Duterte was mayor of Davao until he was president but stopped just short of the date the Philippines withdrew from the international tribunal on 17 March 2019.