Marcos: ICC blatant sovereignty threat

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the International Criminal Court, or ICC, is a threat to the country’s sovereignty, reiterating his non-recognition of its jurisdiction in the Philippines.

“Let me say this for the 100th time,” Marcos said at the Lung Center of the Philippines where he launched its transplant program, “I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines. I consider this a blatant threat to our sovereignty.”

Marcos stressed his administration will neither assist the ICC nor cooperate with it in “any way, shape or form” as it seeks to investigate the “war on drugs” waged by his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

While all individuals, including ICC representatives, may be allowed to visit the Philippines, the President made it clear that ICC probers would not be allowed to make contact with any government agency.

Assurance

On Monday, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who served as Duterte’s first police chief, asked the Marcos government to categorically state whether it would hand him and Duterte over to the ICC.

Dela Rosa issued the statement after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that ICC investigators had been to the Philippines last December to gather evidence against him and Duterte.

Duterte has consistently maintained that he is willing to face charges over his campaign against illegal drugs before any local court, but never before any foreign body like the ICC.

Marcos yesterday sought to assure both Duterte and Dela Rosa that his administration’s affirmation of the government’s withdrawal in 2019 from the Rome Statute that created the ICC has not changed.

“If they (ICC investigators) attempt to contact any government agency, whether it be the police or local governments, they should not be responded to. That is our response,” Marcos said.

“We do not recognize their jurisdiction, therefore, we will not assist in any way, shape, or form any investigation that the ICC is doing in the Philippines,” he added.

Insider info

Citing “insider information,” Trillanes said an arrest warrant from the ICC against former president Duterte would be out soon.

Dela Rosa urged Marcos to “be man enough to please tell us the real score. Just let us know, and we won’t have a problem with that.”

The senator wondered whether transactions had been going on “behind the scenes” between the ICC and the Marcos administration after it previously said it would look at proposals to rejoin the ICC.

“If back then you told me they couldn’t enter, and now the situation has changed, and you have agreed, please inform us. You are our president. You are our leader. Tell us, so we will know what to do,” Dela Rosa asked Marcos.

Complaints brought before the ICC alleged that 12,000 to 30,000 people were extrajudicially killed during Duterte’s war on drugs.

Official government data, however, said only about 4,700 were killed during legitimate operations that necessitated the use of force by government operatives.

‘Wild imaginings’

Also on Tuesday, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra came short of calling Trillanes’ ICC claim the fruits of his wild imagination.

“As to former Senator Trillanes’ statement, let him believe what he wants to believe,” said Guevarra. “The Philippines has disengaged completely from the ICC.”

“As the President has repeatedly declared, the ICC has lost jurisdiction and any continuing investigation by it is a threat to the country’s sovereignty,” Guevarra added.

As such, Guevarra clarified the government will not assist the ICC, much more when it comes to serving any processes — like an arrest warrant — within the Philippines.

“I repeat my admonition to all those who have legitimate complaints about any abuses committed during the war on drugs: Our own national institutions are ready to investigate and prosecute all those who have violated the law,” Guevarra said.

Meanwhile, Senator Christopher Go, who had served as special presidential assistant to Duterte, maintained the Philippines has a fully functioning justice system that the ICC cannot be allowed to undermine.

“Only Philippine courts operating under Philippine laws can judge former president Duterte,” Go said.