THE Marcos administration will not allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to come to the country and investigate or take to court any of its government leaders and police officers, chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday as he mimicked for the nth time the government’s stance that the international body has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
The Philippines is no longer a member-nation of the ICC after former President Duterte pulled the country out of the Hague-based tribunal in 2019 after the body kicked off a preliminary probe on his government’s drug war.
Enrile said that if it was up to him, he will order the immediate arrest of ICC investigators who would enter the country, stressing that the criminal court is already intruding into the country’s internal affairs.
“As the lawyer of the President, I will not allow, as far as I’m concerned, I will not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court of justice. They have no sovereign power over us. If they will come here, if I were to be followed, I will cause their arrest… They interfere so much with our internal affairs,” the former Senate president said in a chance interview on the sidelines of the presentation of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 held at the PICC on Monday.
Enrile said the ICC should first seek the government’s permission before coming to the Philippines.
Asked if he had already discussed the matter with President Marcos Jr., Enrile said they do not talk about it because it is a “non-issue.”
The ICC last week decided to reopen its inquiry into the reported extrajudicial killings related to former President Duterte’s “Oplan: Tokhang” campaign against illegal drugs.
Thousands of illegal drugs suspects have been killed in the Philippine government’s war on drugs, especially during the previous Duterte administration. Many of these deaths were attributed to abuses committed by the police.
The ICC pre-trial chamber said it was “not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the court’s investigations” and that documents submitted by the Philippine government on its supposed probe on killings were “insufficient.”
Enrile brushed off the ICC’s decision: “Sino ba masusunod, sistema natin o sistema nila? (Which should prevail, our system or their system?).
He likewise reiterated the repeated statements of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the country has a working and functional justice system and does not need guidance from the ICC.
He also said there was nothing wrong with the previous administration’s campaign against illegal drugs: “My God! He (Duterte) is acting under the Constitution of the country to enforce the law. That is his own. We do not have an uncivilized judicial system,” he said.
‘RESPECT PH’
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said the ICC should “respect the Philippines’ sovereignty and acknowledge the capacity of the Philippines’ judicial system.”
In a press briefing at Camp Crame yesterday, Azurin echoed the government’s catchphrase that the country’s judicial system is working perfectly.
“The country has a robust, efficient, and functioning criminal justice system to address human rights abuses committed in the anti-illegal drug campaign,” he said, adding that the PNP and the DOJ have been continually coordinating with each other in going after erring police personnel accused of involvement in abuses and other malpractices in the anti-narcotics campaign.
“This is evidenced by ongoing investigations on all drug related deaths and cases of successful prosecution of some government personnel involved in related crimes,” said Azurin.
“Additionally, there are administrative cases being handled by the PNP Internal Affairs Service and drug cases filed in court against drug personalities that rightfully describe the active stance of the PNP in addressing the drug problem in the country and at the same time internal discipline issues within the organization,” he added.
Azurin said the PNP has already submitted to the DOJ more than 300 case folders of police operations that resulted in the deaths of suspects. Fifty-two of these cases led to filing of charges against erring policemen, he said.
“That’s why we don’t see any reason why the ICC would come in to investigate because the PNP investigation is continuing, in tandem with the DOJ,” the PNP chief said, stressing that the PNP is not hiding anything.
“What we are asking is for ICC to also give due respect to the judicial processes that we have in our country because we are a sovereign country. We have our own judicial proceedings,” said Azurin.
Azurin said ICC should just submit inputs if it wants to offer help in addressing the country’s drug problem “and we (government) will do the process.”
‘MORE TIME’
DOJ spokesman Jose Dominic Clavano asked the ICC to give the Philippines more time to investigate the deaths and abuses related to the anti-drug crackdown of the Duterte administration.
Clavano likewise assured the public that the DOJ will prosecute to the full extent of the law everyone involved in the drug war abuses.
“Give us some time to pursue a genuine investigation on the drug war. Si Secretary (Jesus Crispin) Remulla ay hindi naman tinatalikuran ang imbestigasyon dito (Secretary Remulla has not turned his back on these investigations). He is confident we will be able to secure conviction in these drug war cases,” Clavano told the Laging Handa public briefing on Monday.
“Hindi natin tinatalikuran ang ating trabaho at mandato na i-prosecute ang mga sangkot sa pang aabuse sa drug war. Wala tayong pinoprotektahan pero kailangan natin dumaan sa proseso, step-by-step process (We are not turning our back on our role and mandate to prosecute those who committed abuses in the name of the anti-drug war. We are not protecting anybody here but we have to abide by the process, step-by-step process),” he added.
Clavano said there are 290 cases under different stages of investigation, prosecution and in court.
Remulla on Friday insisted that the Philippines has a functioning justice system and called the ICC decision an “irritant.”
Remulla, like Enrile, likewise vowed to prevent ICC investigators from entering or imposing upon the country, saying the Philippines is a sovereign country.
Clavano said the ICC should also understand that investigation “cannot be done overnight” and that “all we need is sometime” to finish the probe.
“This is a balancing act since we also need to protect our sovereignty, but we will ensure the prosecution of those involved,” he said. — With Victor Reyes and Ashzel Hachero
