MADRID, Aug. 1 (.) –
The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as ‘Bongbong’, has rejected this Monday that the country rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) but has assured that the investigation into the war on drugs launched by the former president Rodrigo Duterte will get ahead and will not be affected.
“The Philippines has no intention of joining the court now,” he said during an interview. The country ceased to be part of the court on March 17, 2019, a year after Duterte announced his withdrawal and after the then ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened an investigation against the brutal anti-drug campaign.
Now, advisers to the current head of state are addressing how to legally respond to drug war investigations. “We have to carefully study this procedure to be able to do the right thing because things can be misunderstood,” he asserted.
Data from the Philippine Government indicate that at least 6,252 people have died in police operations against drugs between July 2016 and May 2022, although several organizations for the defense of Human Rights put the number of deaths at around 30,000.
The investigation will not be affected since, according to article 127 of the Rome Statute, the procedures that are initiated before the departure of a country will continue in force once the withdrawal takes place.
However, Duterte himself has in the past asked the security forces not to collaborate with any international investigation. The ICC can only intervene in a member country when it considers that the government is not carrying out the relevant investigations into alleged crimes committed in its territory.
