Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said yesterday she favors a possible return of the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“There are times we really need justice from an international criminal court because, sadly, justice in the country is sometimes questionable,” she told ANC.
The Philippines formally withdrew from the court in 2019, when it opened a preliminary investigation into the drug war launched by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
While Castro’s comments reflect her personal views, they add to the ongoing debate about the country’s relationship with the ICC.
Some human rights advocates argue that renewed membership could strengthen accountability and provide justice for victims of alleged crimes.
Meanwhile, former Senate President Frank Drilon backed the Philippines’ rejoining the ICC, saying there was no reason to leave the ICC in the first place except to protect then President Duterte from investigation.
“First of all, why did we leave [the ICC] in the first place? I have no answer to that except for Duterte’s fear that victims [of drug war] might run to the ICC to file complaints against him,” he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo in Filipino.
Similarly, a human rights group urged Mr. Marcos to rejoin the ICC on the sixth anniversary of the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute on March 17, 2019.
“Duterte’s self-serving decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute was an attempt to escape accountability in the face of the ICC’s initiation of investigations into the mass killings of drug suspects,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
The call on the Philippine government to return to the ICC’s fold is also gaining support among administration congressmen.
House Assistant Majority Leader Jude Acidre of TINGOG Party-list pointed out that Duterte’s decision to withdraw from the ICC in 2019 was a way to “avoid accountability” over the bloody drug war, where more than 6,000 deaths have been acknowledged by law enforcement.
House Assistant Majority Leader Raul Angelo “Jil” Bongalon of Ako Bicol Party-list said membership in the ICC would help provide a layer of protection for citizens against the gravest crimes of concern to the international community.
“If the State or the government has failed to act on it and provide justice to the victims, where do we go now? One way of doing this is to rejoin the Rome Statute,” said Bongalon.