Palace: Rejoining ICC not on Marcos’ agenda

Malacañang clarified on Friday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not discussed or considered the possibility of the Philippines rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Palace Press Officer, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, said the matter has not yet been raised with the President and is currently not part of the administration’s foreign policy agenda "as of now."

“Wala po. Sa ngayon, wala po talaga (As of now, there’s really nothing),” Castro told reporters.

"Kapag po siguro nabigyan kami ng pagkakataon ng Pangulo na mabanggit ko ‘to nang mas malaliman, tingnan natin kung ano iyong kaniyang magiging reaksiyon. As of now, sa foreign policy, wala pa po talaga (If given the chance to bring up the matter with the President more deeply, we’ll see how he reacts. But for now, in terms of foreign policy, it hasn’t been discussed)," she continued.

Earlier this month, Castro confirmed that Marcos is open to having discussions as regards to the Philippines rejoining the ICC.

"Sa aking palagay opo at kaya lang hindi po ngayon napag-uusapan ang bagay na 'yan pero sa mga ganitong suggestion, open naman po ang Pangulo para po ito ay mapag-usapan (In my view, yes. It’s just that the matter hasn’t been discussed yet, but the President is open to talking about such suggestions)," Castro previously said.

On 17 March 2019, the Duterte administration officially withdrew the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC), exactly one year after it announced its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the tribunal in 2011.