“My position hasn’t changed and I have stated it often even before I took office as President that there are many questions about their jurisdiction and what we in the Philippines regard as an intrusion into our internal matters and a threat to our sovereignty,” Marcos said in an interview with reporters in the sidelines of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming at Fort Del Pilar, Baguio City.
“So no, I do not see what their jurisdiction is. I feel that we have in our police, in our judiciary, a good system. We do not need assistance from any outside entity,” the President said.
Marcos said he cannot cooperate with the ICC as long as the questions of jurisdiction and the probe’s effect on the sovereignty of the Philippines “are sufficiently answered.”
In January, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I allowed the resumption of the investigation in the Philippines over the alleged crime against humanity of murder in the country amid the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
It said it was not satisfied with the Philippine government undertaking relevant investigations, especially on the deaths related to the crackdown against illegal drugs that would warrant the deferral of its investigations on the basis of the complementarity principle.
Duterte ordered the withdrawal of the Philippines’ membership to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, in 2019. (SunStar Philippines)