Malacañang reiterated its position that the International Criminal Court cannot conduct any investigation against President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, saying the accusation is baseless and tainted with political motivation.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo issued the statement in response to the ICC report that it already started its preliminary examination on the complaint filed by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers against Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity.
Panelo cited Article 127 of the Rome Statute which states, in part, that “a withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.”
“There is, therefore, no basis under the Rome Statute for the ICC to proceed with any of its activities relative to the President’s programs against illegal drugs. This is the case supposing that we were once a State Party to the Rome Statute,” he said.
“Legal realities, however, dictate that we never became part of the jurisdiction of the ICC, thus revealing that the present actions of the ICC are not only baseless but tainted with political motivation,” the Palace official added.
Panelo said the court’s action is tantamount to interfering with the sovereignty of the country.
“The ICC is pursuing whatever activity it has initiated against the President despite the country signifying that the Philippines never became part of its jurisdiction,” he said.
“With the biased and preconceived actions of the ICC, we cannot blame the Filipino people for thinking that it has taken a politically-motivated obnoxious path aimed at maligning not just this administration but the very Republic of the Philippines,” he added.