By Junex Doronio
MANILA — For retired Supreme Court (SC) Justice and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, there’s nothing to fear with being a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) again.
Established in 2002, the ICC is the world’s only permanent court for war crimes and crimes against humanity and aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are unable or unwilling.
“The reason why we have to have membership with the ICC is that if somebody acts outside of the bounds of the law pero hindi tayo member ng ICC and the local jurisdiction does not move, then wala tayong magagawa,” Morales pointed out on Thursday (December 7).
Human rights advocates want the ICC to investigate the “crimes against humanity” committed by ex-President Rodrigo Roa Duterte related to his “bloody drug war” that allegedly victimized some 30,000 individuals.
In the July 17, 2023 report of Vera Files, VP Sara Duterte, Senators Bong Go, and Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa were also named in ICC probe documents investigating the killings related to the drug war during the previous administration and even when FPRRD was mayor of Davao City.
Recently, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the Philippines returning “under the fold of the ICC” is now under study by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
To recall, FPRRD pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in 2019, a year after the Hague-based tribunal began a preliminary probe into the crackdown that killed thousands.
His daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, raised several legal arguments against rejoining the ICC in a letter to the DOJ.
“You could defer from her (VP Duterte’s) opinion, I could defer from my opinion, but that’s her opinion. Whether or not it merits the DOJ’s action, I don’t know,” Carpio quipped.
(ai/mnm)