The Philippine government will no longer make a move following the rejection of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the country's appeal to suspend the drug war probe, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday.
Speaking to the media on the sideline of the Pag-IBIG Fund Chairman's Report event in Pasay, Marcos said the previous appeal would be the country's "last involvement" with the ICC.
"Because hindi na tayo pwedeng mag-appeal. The appeal has failed and in our view, there is nothing more that we can do in the government. And so at this point, we, essentially, are disengaging from any contact, from any communication, I guess, with the ICC," he added.
The chief executive said the country will go back to the position where it will not cooperate with the chamber, reiterating that its probe is "a serious question on their jurisdiction" and that this interferes and "practically attack" the Republic's sovereignty.
"That's pretty much it. We have no longer any recourse when it comes to the ICC. We have not been involved with the actual action, merely as a comment, we would comment. But we have not appeared as a party in the ICC because we do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC," Marcos said.
On March 13, the Philippine government through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) submitted an appeal formally asking the ICC to suspend the probe on the alleged human rights abuses and crimes during the Duterte administration's war against drugs campaign.
Two weeks after the submission, the ICC denied the request, citing the country's failure to explain "how the alleged absence of a jurisdictional or legal basis for the resumption of the Prosecutor's activities pending the resolution of the appeal would defeat its very purpose and create an irreversible situation that could not be corrected."
