President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he would not allow the International Criminal Court to investigate former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war due to the lack of clarity regarding the court’s jurisdiction over the country.

In an interview with Palace reporters at the Metropolitan Theater on Tuesday, Marcos emphasized that his position was not about the potential evidence the ICC might present on the war on drugs, but rather a matter of national sovereignty.

“It opens a Pandora’s box. There are still those questions of jurisdiction and sovereignty. I haven’t yet seen a sufficient answer for it,’ the President declared.

He explained that this lack of clarity leads him to the “logical conclusion,” which is not to recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction.

The President remained firm when asked if new evidence might sway his position. “No, it’s not about the evidence. It’s about the jurisdiction.”

Responding to a question about his approval of the ICC, Marcos clarified that he neither approved nor denied their actions. However, he stressed that the Philippines remained an open country and it would take action if any illegal activities occurred.

“They haven’t done anything illegal. Once they do, of course, we will do something about it, but they, we are an open country, we are not a closed country,” he said.

In a recent survey, 55 percent of Filipinos supported a government collaboration with the ICC in the investigation into the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.

Marcos, however, refused to cooperate with the ICC probe since last year. He also called the ICC a threat to Philippine sovereignty.

Duterte pulled the Philippines’ membership out of the Hague-based ICC’s Rome Statute in 2018, with the withdrawal taking effect in 2019, after the tribunal began a preliminary probe into his administration’s drug war.

However, another survey released earlier this month noted “growing” support for the ICC’s probe into the Duterte-era drug-related killings in the country.

Government data obtained between 1 July 2016 and 31 May 2022 showed that at least 6,000 persons lost their lives as a result of police anti-drug operations.

But Human Rights Watch, citing various rights groups, said that between 12,000 and 30,000 people were killed in the “drug war.”