Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, known as ‘Bongbong’, announced Tuesday that the country has decided to cut off for the time being all contacts and communications with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the court rejected the appeal filed by the government to shelve the court’s investigation into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s »war on drugs».
Marcos has indicated that the country »cannot continue working with the ICC considering that there are serious doubts about its jurisdiction and what it considers a series of interferences and attacks against the country’s sovereignty».
From our point of view, this appeal has failed, and there is nothing more we can do. That is why we have decided to suspend any contact or communication with them,» he said during a press conference, according to information from the newspaper »The Philippine Star».
Despite the Philippines’ exit from the ICC in 2018, an average that came into effect in 2019, Manila still had certain obligations under the Rome Statute. The ICC thus continues to have jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member of the court.
The Philippine president’s remarks come a day after the ICC’s Appeals Chamber rejected the Philippines’ request to reverse the court’s decision endorsing the reopening of the investigation into the previous administration’s so-called »war on drugs», which allegedly claimed up to 12,000 lives.
The court, which is based in The Hague, reported in January that one of its chambers granted the request of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to reopen the inquiry because it was »not satisfied» with the measures adopted by the Philippine government.
The ICC investigation is based on a complaint filed in 2018 by non-governmental organizations and relatives of victims of the »war on drugs». However, the Philippine government has repeatedly maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction to try these crimes and withdrew the country from the Rome Treaty upholding the court on March 17, 2019. The court, in response, assures that it does have the power to investigate possible crimes committed by signatory states during the time they adhered to the treaty.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
