SOLICITOR General Menardo Guevarra said they are considering several options for the country’s response to the possible reopening of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) probe into alleged crime against humanity amid the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
"The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) is considering several options, such as challenging the jurisdiction of the ICC or the admissibility of the case, or continuing to leave our lines of communication with the ICC open," Guevarra said.
Gueverra, the justice secretary under the Duterte administration, said they will consult President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the Department of Justice (DOH) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the final course of action on the matter.
Last week, the ICC “invited” the Philippine government to comment on the request of its prosecutor to reopen the drug war investigation and submit it by September 8.
On June 14, 2021, then outgoing ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked ICC judges for an approval for the conduct of an official investigation on the alleged crime against humanity of murder amid Duterte’s drug war.
The ICC deferred the probe in November 2021 following the request of the Philippines on the basis that national authorities were investigating, or had already investigated the cases.
In June, Khan requested for the reopening of the probe into the Philippine drug war after the government failed to provide any documentation to substantiate that the investigations are ongoing or complete, nor any details regarding concrete investigative or prosecutorial steps that have been taken.
The former administration maintained that they will not participate in any of the proceedings, noting that the country has a fully functioning justice system.
The ICC investigation will cover the killings committed in the country between July 1, 2016, when former President Rodrigo Duterte took office, and March 16, 2019, the day Duterte ordered the withdrawal of the country’s membership from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. (SunStar Philippines)