By Brian Jules Campued
More than half of Filipinos support calls for the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) and cooperate with the investigation of the alleged crimes against humanity that occurred during the Duterte administration, a survey from OCTA Research found.
Results of the Tugon ng Masa survey on Sunday showed that 59% of Pinoys agree that the Philippines should rejoin the ICC while 41% said it should not.
Support for working with ICC again was highest among respondents in Balance Luzon at 65% while 49% of respondents from Mindanao did not agree with the country rejoining the international tribunal.
It was also highest among socio-economic class ABC (67%), followed by those in class E (60%) and class D (58%).
Meanwhile, on the question on whether the government should cooperate with the ICC in the investigation of the drug war, the survey revealed that 55% of Pinoys were in favor while 45% said otherwise.
Calls for cooperation got the most support in Balance Luzon (65%) while Mindanao registered the highest disagreement at 58%.
It also received more support across socio-economic classes, with the highest among class ABC (57%), closely followed by those in class E (56%) and class D (55%).
The nationwide face-to-face survey was conducted from December 10-14, 2023 among 1,200 adult Filipinos.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos last month said that the ICC may visit the Philippines but the government will not cooperate in its investigation as the tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the country.
“Let me say this for the 100th time. I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines…I consider it as a threat to our sovereignty. The Philippine government will not lift a finger to help any investigation that the ICC conducts,” President Marcos said last Jan. 23.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration after the ICC started to probe into the country’s drug war. – avds
