ICC lawyer hits back on Pulong Duterte’s court ‘complicity’ remark

Philippine Canadian Inquirer
March 2, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Atty. Kristina Conti responded to a statement released by Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte denouncing the inaction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the war between the US, Israel, and Iran continues to rattle the Middle East.

The congressman expressed his disappointment with the ICC over the apparent disparity between the court’s “complicity” in prosecuting those leaders involved in the Middle East tensions and its treatment of his father, detained former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“As bombs fall on Iran, the ICC suddenly turns blind, deaf, and mute. No emergency statements. No dramatic press briefings. No urgency to assert jurisdiction. This silence is not neutrality—it is complicity,” Duterte stated.

Conti responded to the younger Duterte by correcting him that the appropriate institution that must step in on the conflict is the United Nations, not the ICC.

“Minsan, masaya rin talaga mag-conspiracy theory. Pero the world does not revolve around you,” Conti said.

(Sometimes, it’s fun to make a conspiracy theory. But the world does not revolve around you.)

She asserted that the events unfolding in the region do not concern the international tribunal since its jurisdiction is based on the Rome Statute.

Jordan, Palestine, and Tunisia are the only ICC member states in the Middle East, while the aggressors, the US and Israel, are not and therefore cannot be persecuted by the court, Conti explained.

“Kaya nakakulong si Duterte ay dahil nag-utos sya ng malawakang patayan mula nang mayor sya ng Davao hanggang naging presidente ng Pilipinas, at kaya nag-assert ng jurisdiction ang ICC ay dahil miyembro tayo nung 2011-2019,” she stressed.

(Former president Rodrigo Duterte is in detention because he ordered the widespread extrajudicial killings during his mayoral years in Davao City until he became the president of the Philippines, and the ICC asserted its jurisdiction since the country is a member state from 2011 to 2019.)