Malacañang on Thursday said the Department of Justice has all the right to explore all legal avenues in connection with the International Criminal Court, including the possibility of allowing ICC prosecutors into the country as well as the steps to take should arrest warrants be issued against Filipinos, including on former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the DOJ has to inform Mr. Marcos of any legal options including his decision on ICC.
“The President’s stance on the ICC remains clear and consistent. However, it is the duty of the Department of Justice to explore all legal avenues and ensure that the President is fully informed of his options,” she said.
“This is standard procedure, not a change in position, ensuring that our administration remains prepared for any scenario,” Garafil added.
On Wednesday, DOJ Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said the agency’s legal team is now preparing the legal briefer for the President.
Clavano said the briefer will also include the option to have the Philippines return to the ICC.
“What are the implications of staying out? What are the implications of going back? What are the legal obligations that may arise? The briefer includes everything as well as the arrival of the ICC arrest warrants,” he said.
In 2019, the Philippines, under then-President Duterte, withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, after the tribunal began a probe into his bloody drug war, followed by a formal inquiry in September 2021.
But the Hague-based tribunal said it retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was a member from November 2011.
Duterte carried out his war on drugs from 2016 to 2022. Under this campaign, law enforcement authorities pursued suspected drug dealers and users, several of whom ended up dead by way of summary executions.
Government records showed more than 6,000 have been killed in anti-drug operations since June 2016 until May 31, 2022, a month before Duterte’s term ended, but human rights groups estimated the death toll may be as high as 30,000.
“You do not scare me that you will jail me in the International Criminal Court. I will never allow myself to answer these whites,” Duterte said in 2019.
“I will never, never, never answer any question coming from you. It’s bullshit to me. I am only responsible to the Filipino (people). Filipinos will judge… And if you hang me for all what I did, go ahead. It will be my pleasure,” the then President said.