By Gabriela Baron
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, Aug. 1, made it clear that the Philippines has no intention of rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This after Marcos Jr. recently convened with his legal team composed of his Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, Solicitor General (SolGen) Menardo Guevarra, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, and Atty. Harry Roque.
“The Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC. The meeting that we had with the SolGen, the Secretary of the Department of Justice, kasama na rin diyan si Senator Enrile who has become my legal adviser, also si Atty. Harry Roque because he is involved and recognized by the ICC,” Marcos Jr. said during his visit at a COVID-19 vaccination site in Pasig.
“Ang meeting namin ay dahil sinasabi ngayon na itutuloy ang imbestigasyon. Ang sinasabi naman namin ay may imbestigasyon naman dito at patuloy rin naman ang imbestigasyon,” he explained.
The meeting, he added, was done so his administration would know “if we will respond [or] if we will not respond” to the ICC investigation.
“Kung sakali man na sasagot tayo, ano ang magiging sagot natin, or possible din hindi natin papansinin dahil hindi naman tayo sumasailalim sa kanila,” Marcos Jr. continued.
“Pero the ICC is a very different kind of a court kaya sinabi ko, pag-aralan muna mabuti ‘yung procedure para tama ‘yung gagawin natin – syempre baka ma-misinterpret ‘yung ating ginagawa. Liwanagin natin kung ano ba dapat ang gawin, sino ang susulat, kanino, ano ang ilalagay sa sulat.”
The ICC is set to investigate the alleged crimes committed by the Duterte administration in the course of its war on drugs. -ag
