DAVAO CITY — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque dismissed accusations over his alleged contradicting position on the Philippines membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Roque, who was in the city to celebrate with Davao City’s founding anniversary, said his statement favoring the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw from the ICC does not contradict his statement in 2011.
It may be recalled that in 2011, Roque shared his happiness in the social media when the Philippines joined the ICC.
In an interview during the 81st Araw ng Davao, Roque said there was no way that his previous statement contradicted his recent one.
“It is not a contradiction. Mali talaga ang ginawa ng ICC (The ICC really did the wrong thing),” he said.
“There is no contradiction in my statements because what the prosecutor did was wrong. He should not get involve in the cases here because our courts are working,” Roque said, adding the decision of the President to withdraw from the ICC is a good one.
“It will not in any way affect the country since there are only few countries who are members of the ICC. America is not a member and even Russia and China,” he said.
Asked what will happen to the cases filed before the ICC now that the Philippines has withdrawn its membership, Roque said that it is now the problem of the ICC.
“It’s up to them what they will do to the cases. The President already made a statement that they cannot get the jurisdiction here in the Philippines,” Roque said.
The withdrawal of the Philippines from the ICC will be effective a year after the ICC receives the petition of the Philippines withdrawal from the international court.
On Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bared the Philippines has begun the process for its withdrawal from the ICC when it officially served notice to the United Nations that it has decided to opt out of the Rome Statute.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano announced that the withdrawal was formally conveyed in a note verbale that Philippine Permanent Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. handed over to Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Chef de Cabinet of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at 6:07 p.m. New York time Thursday or 6:07 a.m. Manila time Friday.
With the delivery of the notice, the countdown for the one-year withdrawal period from the ICC officially began on March 15, 2018. (Funny Pearl Gajunera/PNA)
