Palace: ICC rulings based on Rome Statute, not by political statements

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

The court junked the defense’s argument that the ICC cannot exercise jurisdiction over the case because the investigation into the war on drugs in the Philippines was only authorized in September 2021, or two years after the country’s effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute. (Pexels photo)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The International Criminal Court (ICC) is basing its rulings on the Rome Statute and not on political statements, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro has said.

She made the statement on Sunday in reaction to the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent use of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s pronouncements to challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction over his crime against humanity case.

“Sa ating pagkakaalam, the ICC will base its decision or order or resolution on the Rome Statute and it will not be guided by the political statements (Based on our knowledge, the ICC will base its decision, order, or resolution on the Rome Statute and it will not be guided by political statements),” she said in a press briefing on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Malaysia.

“Kung iyan po ay kanilang gagamitan ay depende na ito sa ICC kung papaano nila ito ie-evaluate (If that is what they would use, then the evaluation would fall on the ICC),” she added.

Duterte’s camp, in its previous submissions to the ICC, argued that Marcos previously “impliedly accepted, for jurisdictional reasons, that former President Duterte should not be tried at the […] Court,” referencing a 2023 letter to Vice President Sara Duterte that the government “will not assist the ICC, in any way, or form.”

Judges of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I affirmed on Oct. 23 the court’s jurisdiction in the case against Duterte, who is currently detained at its detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands.

The court junked the defense’s argument that the ICC cannot exercise jurisdiction over the case because the investigation into the war on drugs in the Philippines was only authorized in September 2021, or two years after the country’s effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

The judges ruled that no provision in the Statute imposes any time limit on the ICC’s ability to exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed during the period when the State was a party to the Statute.