JUSTICE Secretary Crispin Remulla said Thursday, March 20, 2025, that although the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the Philippines as a non-member state, the body retains authority over individuals who commit crimes that violate the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Remulla made the remark during the beginning of the Senate investigation into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte (FPRRD), based on the arrest warrant issued by the ICC, led by presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos.
“Jurisdiction of the ICC is throughout the world. We belong to a community of nations that is tied together by a legal system called the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). It is something adopted by more than 150 countries. The IHL became a law in 2009 or 2010 and that law, that domestic law, is what we adhere to in this case,” said Remulla.
“The ICC tries people for individual crimes, not states. So, the Philippines, as a state, cannot be called upon by the ICC to do something for them. But when the ICC is running after individuals who are Filipino citizens, then that obligation becomes another kind of obligation,” he added.
Marcos said she is "perplexed" by the apparent change of tune by Remulla, who had earlier affirmed the "repetitive" pronouncement of her brother, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, given the country’s withdrawal from the body, effective in 2019, under FPRRD’s leadership.
“I’m perplexed. The DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) made it very clear that as we withdrew, we are no longer a state party to the treaty and now your saying that we can, nevertheless, fall under the ICC under the generic rubric of the IHL?” the lawmaker said.
“I am a little bit perplexed, given that you are part of the executive and the President said, as he has said a hundred times, that we are not under the ICC. Why is the SOJ (Remulla) now saying that we are, nevertheless, somehow, in some miraculous way, under the rubric of the IHL, still under its jurisdiction?” she added.
Remulla also reiterated that the Philippine government was never in coordination with the ICC in relation to Duterte’s case over alleged crime against humanity due to the implementation of his drug war from 2011 to 2019.
“We are not members of the ICC. So, whatever relationship we have with the ICC is on an arm's-length basis if we have to talk to them. But we have never spoken to them—arm's-length meaning very transparent, if ever—but we have never spoken to them.,” Remulla said.
He also maintained that the Philippine government surrendered an individual with a warrant of arrest before the ICC, but it did not surrender as a state.
In her opening statement, Marcos took a swipe at the administration for surrendering FPRRD to the ICC.
“Ito ang napanood ng buong bansa, at ang tanging tanong, bakit natin isinuko ang isang kapwang Pilipino? Kung ang iyong kapatid ay inuusig, ipapasa mo ba sa kamay ng iba? Kung ang iyong ama o ‘di kaya ang iyong lolo pa, matanda na, may sakit, kinakakaldkad palabas ng inyong tahanan, manonood ka ba na parang wala lang?” Marcos said.
(This is what the whole country witnessed, and the only question is, why did we surrender a fellow Filipino? If your sibling is being persecuted, would you hand them over to others? If it were your father or even your elderly grandfather, sick and being dragged out of your home, would you just watch as if nothing is happening?)
“Ganito ang nangyari ngayon. Isinuko natin si Rodrigo Roa Duterte sa dayuhan na para bang wala siyang sariling bayan, na para bang hindi na nating kayang humusga sa sarili nating tahanan. If they can march into our house and take one of our own, what stops them from doing it again and again to you, to me, to any of us? ...This is bigger than Duterte, this is about our dignity as Filipinos,” she added.
(This is what has happened now. We have surrendered Rodrigo Roa Duterte to a foreign country as if he has no homeland, as if we are no longer capable of judging in our own home. If they can march into our house and take one of our own, what stops them from doing it again and again to you, to me, to any of us? ...This is bigger than Duterte, this is about our dignity as Filipinos.)
“Ang hustisyang ipinapataw ng dayuhan ay hindi hustisya. Ito ay pang-aalipin. Ito ay pagkontrol. At mga kababayan ko, hindi tayo alipin, tayo ay Pilipino,” Marcos further said.
(The justice imposed by foreigners is not justice. It is enslavement. It is control. And my fellow countrymen, we are not slaves, we are Filipinos.)
Duterte was arrested on March 11 and was immediately transported to the Hague, The Netherlands, where the ICC headquarters is located.
The Senate probe aims to clarify the involvement and the roles of the ICC, the International Criminal Police Organization, and various government agencies in the arrest of Duterte; and to look into the measures taken to ensure that the rights of FPRRD under domestic laws and relevant treaties were properly protected throughout the process. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)