Marcos firm on Phl non-return to ICC — Palace

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not changed his position on the Philippines’ non-membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC), despite a House resolution urging the country to rejoin the international tribunal, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace press officer, Atty. Claire Castro told reporters in New York that the President’s stance on returning to the ICC remains firm.

“Hindi nagbabago yung stance ng Pangulo. Hindi pa rin po tayo ngayon magrerejoin sa ICC (The President’s stance has not changed. For now, we will still not rejoin the ICC),” Castro said, noting that Marcos has not indicated any shift in policy regarding the country’s relationship with the tribunal.

Castro did not elaborate on the reason behind the President’s position, saying that the statement reflected the entirety of what Marcos had conveyed on the matter.

The Palace comment came after lawmakers from the Makabayan Bloc filed a House measure in late February calling for the Philippines to rejoin the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the treaty that established the ICC.

The proposal surfaced amid proceedings at the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I involving former president Rodrigo Duterte, who faces allegations of crimes against humanity related to his administration’s controversial war on illegal drugs.

Duterte initiated the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in March 2018, a move that took effect in March 2019. The decision was widely viewed by critics as an attempt to avoid international scrutiny over the government’s anti-drug campaign, which had drawn the attention of ICC investigators.

Despite the withdrawal, Duterte was later arrested in March 2025 following an order from the ICC tied to its investigation into thousands of killings linked to the anti-narcotics campaign during his presidency.