ICC rules to continue probe on PH war on drugs

In countering the Philippine government, de Brichambaut said the “ICC pre-trial chamber did not err in law.” (File Photo: Greger Ravik/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA – The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) voted 3-2 Tuesday to turn down the Philippine government’s appeal questioning the continuation of investigation into the previous administration’s war on illegal drugs.

In a statement, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said it is “disappointed in today’s judgment issued by the Appeals Chamber of the ICC.”

“Long after the Philippines ceased to be a party to the Rome Statute, the Philippine Government chose to submit data to the (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor and later to the Pre-Trial Chamber, not out of any legal obligation but purely on the basis of comity, consonant with the assertion of sovereignty,” the OSG said.

Judges Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, and Piotr Hofmański of Poland voted to reject the Philippines’ appeal, while presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France and judge Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia dissented.

In countering the Philippine government, de Brichambaut said the “ICC pre-trial chamber did not err in law.”

“I would like to state that it is rejected by the appeals chamber by majority, and that the impugned decision is therefore confirmed,” de Brichambaut said, referring to ICC decision.

The day before the ICC decision, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said ICC prosecutors “are not welcome” in the Philippines while Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said regardless of the outcome of the appeal, the Philippine government will continue to focus on its own investigation and assert the sovereignty of the Republic at all times.