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Daphne Galvez - The Philippine Star
February 20, 2025 | 12:00am
The seat of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands is seen in this photo release by the International Commission of Jurists, a non-governmental organization advocating for human rights.
ICJ / Released
MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) should support the Philippines in its investigation into the drug-related killings under former president Rodrigo Duterte by sharing its findings with the Philippine government, according to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra.
He said that while the government is not hindering the ICC from conducting its investigation, the tribunal should not expect the Philippines to help as the government is conducting its own probe.
Guevarra said the Philippines has not responded to the ICC’s request for aid in its investigation since the country is no longer obliged to help the tribunal, it being no longer a member.
“If you want to help, you should be the one to support the investigation being conducted by the Philippine government, we are not the ones who should help you,” he said in an interview over PTV 4 yesterday.
“Let’s reverse it, whatever evidence or findings you have, give it to the Philippine government so we will be the ones to prosecute those who need to be prosecuted. Not the other way around,” he added.
The ICC has been investigating possible human rights violations committed under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, which saw thousands of drug suspects brutally killed either by police or unknown assailants.
Last year, the ICC asked the Philippine government for help in facilitating the interviews of five key personalities either by helping bring them to The Hague in the Netherlands or by conducting the interrogations on behalf of the ICC, Guevarra said.
“The Philippine government did not act on the request. The ICC can proceed if they want on their own, but they should not ask for the help of the Philippine government because we have our own system of government here,” he said.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said the Philippine government will soon discuss “in a very well-defined manner, in the spirit of comity” with the ICC possible areas of cooperation in the tribunal’s investigation into the drug war killings.
He said the country was open to limited cooperation with ICC, saying the tribunal’s work could help the Philippines’ own investigations.
Remulla said cooperation with an international tribunal is permissible under law, noting that ICC representatives “have been going in and out of the country without us raising anything.”
“We have to admit the shortcomings that are there. We always want to do justice for everyone,” Remulla said.
The Philippines, under then-president Duterte, withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 after the tribunal began a probe into his administration’s drug war.
The government has been firm on its stance that it has no legal duty to comply with any obligations or proceedings by the ICC, citing jurisdiction issues following the country’s withdrawal from the statute.
President Marcos has been quoted to have said he considers the ICC a threat to the country’s sovereignty and the government will not help in any investigation the ICC conducts.
But he later said the country’s return to the Rome Statute was “under study.”
The outcome of the study has not been announced.
