March 29, 2023
MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the Philippine government is ending its involvement in the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it rejected the government’s appeal to suspend its probe into “drug war” killings.
Marcos said the Philippines would no longer appeal the ICC’s decision, and the government is “essentially disengaging from any contact and communication” with the ICC.
“We don’t have a next move. That ends all our involvement with the ICC. Hindi na tayo mag-appeal, the appeal has failed, and there is, in our view, nothing more that we can do in the government,” he said in a chance interview in Pasay City.
“So, at this point, we essentially are disengaging from any contact, from any communication with the ICC,” Marcos added.
The President reiterated that the Philippine government will not cooperate with the ICC probe, citing “very serious questions” on the court’s jurisdiction, interference, and “attacks on the sovereignty of the Republic.”
“We cannot cooperate with the ICC considering the very serious questions about their jurisdiction and about what we consider to be interference and practically attacks on the sovereignty of the Republic,” he said.
“So that’s pretty much it; we have no longer any recourse when it comes to the ICC,” the President added.
The ICC Appeals Chamber has rejected the Philippine government’s request to suspend its investigation into the killings committed under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war against illegal drugs.
The decision came just two weeks after the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asked the ICC Appeals Chamber to suspend and reverse the ruling that authorized the reopening of the investigation by the ICC prosecutor.
To recall, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber on January 26 authorized ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to proceed with the preliminary investigation, prompting the OSG to submit a notice of appeal on February 3 to reverse this decision.