The president of the Philippines has ruled out the prospect of rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC) amid the court’s request to resume its investigation of the previous administration’s war against illegal drugs.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office on June 30, said the decision was made after consulting with his legal team on the ICC’s investigation of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Marcos said the government is still deciding how to respond to the ICC prosecutor’s request to reopen investigations into suspected rights abuses during Duterte’s drug war.
“If we do respond, what will be the response, or possibly we just ignore them because we are no longer part of the ICC,” he said. “The Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC.”
The Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC on March 17, 2019, after the then-ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda began preliminary investigations into Duterte’s drug war for suspected human rights abuses.
No Action From Government: ICC
Khan has urged the reopening of investigations into the case, citing the Philippine government’s failure to offer any documentation that the investigations were ongoing or complete, as well as information regarding concrete investigations or prosecution actions.“Under the Rome Statute’s core principle of complementarity, states always have the first opportunity to investigate allegations of such crimes committed on their territory or by their nationals,” he said.
“However, when national authorities fail to act, the court must step in, and that is why I have filed today’s application.”
