‘ICC intruding not right’

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday finally broke his silence on the varied challenges surrounding the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction over the Philippines.

"It's simple for me. That issue is simple. Maybe it's not right that outsiders and foreigners will tell us who our police will investigate, who our police will arrest, who our police will imprison. Maybe that's not right," Marcos told reporters in Taguig City.

Responding to media queries about the resolution filed by some lawmakers asking the government to cooperate with the ICC probe on former president Rodrigo R. Duterte, Marcos said he acknowledges that there are still some problems regarding jurisdiction and sovereignty.

He reiterated that the ICC has no jurisdiction to conduct its investigation into former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on illegal drugs, given the country's well-functioning judicial system.

"We have police, we have the National Bureau of Investigation, we have the Department of Justice. They can handle that job, and that's really where the conflict is," Marcos said.

He said it is now a question of whether or not it is actually possible for ICC to conduct its probe, especially after the Philippines withdrew from the Rome statute a few years back.

"There is always a question: Should we return under the fold of the ICC? So, that's again under study. So, we'll just keep looking at it and see our options," he said.

While such House measures are "not unusual," he said jurisdictional issues and sovereignty concerns must be addressed first.

Earlier this week, Vice President Sara Duterte urged the House of Representatives to honor Marcos' stance regarding the ICC's inquiry into the past administration's drug war.

"Given this clear standpoint, we urge the House to respect the position of the President, who is the chief architect of our foreign policy," Duterte said.

"The President has likewise affirmed that his opinion is based on the fact that the ICC ceased to have jurisdiction over the Philippines upon the effectivity of our withdrawal from the Rome Statute on 17 March 2019," she added.

Manila Representative Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. filed a resolution last Tuesday urging the Marcos administration to collaborate with the ICC investigation.

Last October, lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc — France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list, and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan party-list — filed a resolution to that effect.

The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 after then-President Rodrigo Duterte questioned the international tribunal's right to look into the campaign against illegal drugs that resulted in thousands of deaths in the country.

This year, the ICC denied the Philippines' request to end its investigation into Duterte's drug war.

Last March, Marcos declared that he would stop communicating with the court following its ruling.

Consistent

Meanwhile, former chief presidential legal counsel and spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President's statement was unequivocal and consistent with his oft-repeated pronouncement that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the country, having officially withdrawn as a member.

Panelo described the House resolution as a courteous and diplomatic response to the ICC.

"ICC's insistence and attempts to intrude into the internal affairs of the country not only is an insult to our country, as correctly postulated by Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte, but an assault on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines," he said. 

"As President of the Republic and head of state, PBBM is the chief architect of foreign policy. Having made repeated pronouncements on the absence of jurisdiction of the ICC over our country, it behooves the legislature as another branch of government to support the official position of the President," he added.

To do otherwise, Panelo said, is to undermine the authority of the President and present to the outside world that the two branches of our government are at war with each other.