The government has yet to receive a communication from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio indicated the tribunal might issue arrest warrants next month on those allegedly involved in the war on drugs in the last administration.

“I think the day of reckoning is coming closer because what I’m hearing is that a warrant of arrest will be issued by the ICC sometime in September,” Carpio said.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, however, said the Department of Justice (DoJ) had not received any such information.

“We are not aware of that. None of our government agencies have been informed about anything,” Vasquez said.

The government has said it will not assist the ICC in its probe of the drug war but it will not stop the international court from contacting personalities it may want to interview.

“The last action taken by the ICC was to request diplomatic permission from the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to conduct interviews, but this was ignored because we are no longer under ICC jurisdiction,” Vasquez said.

If ICC personnel are coming or are already in the Philippines, “we don’t know and it’s simply none of our business,” he added.

He said the country is a “very robust and active democracy” where people are free to travel and to seek information.

Stop ICC but not Interpol

Despite the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC in 2019, the country has obligations to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), which was the line initially taken by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

“And we have to understand Interpol processes; it is not an international police enforcement body. It is composed of the different states whose law enforcement agencies cooperate and coordinate and share information and data with the idea of jointly and effectively combating transnational crimes — terrorism, terrorism financing, et cetera,” Remulla said.

But he noted that any issuance of a red notice or arrest request by Interpol will be carefully studied.

He said that whoever will be arrested — if they are to be arrested under our laws — will undergo a review because there are many nuances, including constitutional issues that should be referred to the Supreme Court.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte criticized the ICC when he was asked during the Basta Dabawenyo Program on 11 August if he would attend a hearing on extrajudicial killings if he were subpoenaed.

Duterte reiterated his refusal to acknowledge the ICC’s jurisdiction in the Philippines.