Remulla says Philippines ''will no longer engage'' with ICC
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Wednesday the country will ''no longer engage'' with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its Appeals Chamber allowed its prosecutor to continue its probe on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
“We will no longer engage with them. We don’t need them in our country. We do not want them to come here. They shouldn’t come here because if they do, that is the usurpation of the authority of the Philippine government. We will have problems with them. If they do that, they will be violating our law, our legal system,” Remulla said at a press briefing.
He reiterated that the Philippines was no longer a member of the ICC and that it still has a functioning justice system.
“We are appealing to them not to interfere. If we allow them to, it means we are letting them invade us,” he said.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said they support the government’s stand that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the country.“Like I’ve said before, the national police, being under the Executive department, will follow the lead of the national government. Our national department has spoken that there is a question with respect to the sovereignty and the jurisdiction of the ICC,” Fajardo told reporters.
Fajardo said that the PNP cooperated with the Department of Justice since the start of its investigation on the drug war and has provided the needed documents on the 52 cases linked to it.
“All the operations related to drugs from the station to provincial to regional are forwarded particularly to the office of the DIDM (Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management). All of the cases, not just the drug-related cases go through the case records system of the DIDM,” she said.
“So if there is really a need to produce these case folders, then the PNP is ready to provide if being directed to submit,” she added.
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said that ICC’s decision to reject the government’s decision was “an important first step in achieving justice for the victims, the widows, and the orphans of the War on Drugs”.
In a statement, she said: “My hope is that the President and the agencies of the Executive will cooperate with the investigation of the ICC so that true justice is obtained.”
“The people are watching if he will put the country or his political alliance first. I hope that their Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) is a Philippines that is fair to all,” Hontiveros said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
