Philippines Cuts Ties With ICC Over 'War On Drugs' Probe

Philippines Cuts Ties With ICC Over 'War on Drugs' Probe

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos announced Tuesday that his country would no longer engage with the International Criminal Court after it refused to drop a probe into his predecessor's "war on drugs

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2023) Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos announced Tuesday that his country would no longer engage with the International Criminal Court after it refused to drop a probe into his predecessor's "war on drugs."

The court's appeals chamber rejected on Monday the Philippine government's request to suspend its investigation into alleged drug-related killings committed by police during the presidential term of President Rodrigo Duterte, who pulled the Southeast Asian nation out of the ICC in 2018 after it announced the inquiry.

"The appeal has failed and in our view, there's nothing more that we can do in the government and so at this point, we are essentially disengaging from any contact, from any communication with the ICC," Marcos told reporters, according to the Philippine Star daily.

He argued that the ICC investigation was essentially an attack on his country's sovereignty, and that the Hague-based court had no jurisdiction over the Philippines.

The ICC says it can investigate any crime that occurred on the territory of the Philippines while it was still a party to the statute.

Later in the day, Philippine senator Francis Tolentino said that the ICC's refusal to satisfy the Philippines' request changed nothing, and the court should admit that the sovereignty of nations remained the foundation of the world legal order.

"The Appeal made by the Philippines was a courteous assertion of our sovereignty; its denial has no binding effect. It will not clothe the ICC with jurisdiction, as there was none in the first place. ICC should recognize the fundamental pillar of the international legal order, which is sovereignty," he said, as quoted by the Inquirer Philippine newspaper.

Last year, Tolentino fully supported Marcos' promise not to rejoin the ICC.