By Liezelle Soriano
MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla have not yet engaged in discussions regarding the possibility of the Philippines rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a ranking Department of Justice (DOJ) official.
“I don’t believe that the Secretary and the President have spoken yet (the ICC return issue). It’s something that is beyond my pay level, so I believe it needs to be discussed between the Secretary and the President,” DOJ Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said Friday (01 Dec 2023).
“They have discussed many things in the past. However, with the recent news emerging, they haven’t talked about the issue for about a week,” Clavano added.
Earlier, Marcos mentioned that the potential return of the country to the ICC is “under study.”
Resolutions urging the Philippine government to cooperate with the ICC’s investigation into the thousands of killings linked to the war on drugs have been filed by members of the House of Representatives.
In 2019, former President Rodrigo Duterte withdrew the accreditation of the Philippines from the Rome Statute of the ICC.
The ICC is hoping to launch an investigation of FPRRD’s bloody drug war where thousands accordingly perished.
(ai/mnm)
