Palace 'amused' by 'misleading, baseless' criticisms vs. PHL's withdrawal from ICC

Malacañang on Monday dismissed criticisms against the Philippines withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which took effect over the weekend.

In a statement, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said critics of the administration, which include the political opposition, human rights groups and the left groups, have suddenly become "experts" in international law as they share the advocacy of "demonizing the President and his administration on the issue of human rights vis-a-vis the drug war."

"We find amusing the myriad of misleading and baseless response to the supposed withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court (ICC), ranging from Amnesty International’s remarks that the action is a 'futile attempt to evade international justice' to party-list Gabriela’s statement that the move could 'sound off a nastier wave of rights abuses, including red-tagging of Duterte critics,'" Panelo said.

"The Commission on Human Rights and the Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court add to the conspiratorial chorus by saying 'it is impunity that wins' and 'those who kill with impunity will only be further emboldened,'" he added.

Panelo emphasized that there is no impunity under the Duterte administration, noting that the country's criminal justice system continues to be operational and strictly compliant with the constitutional requirement to due process.

He insisted that deaths during anti-illegal drugs operations occurred as suspected drug personalities resisted arrest.

"The scores of dead policemen and serious injuries to the hundreds of men in uniform are grim testimonials to the reality that those involved in the drug cartel will not allow themselves to be arrested or captured alive," Panelo said.

Panelo called on critics to file sworn complaints before the appropriate administrative and judicial bodies to test the validity of their assertion that deaths under the drug war are sanctioned by the government.

"Failure to undertake this process can only mean that they are engaged in conjectures and politicizing the matter to the advantage of drug personalities and criminals," he said.

In a phone interview on Unang Balita, Panelo reiterated that the Philippines had never been part of the international tribunal.

"From the very start ang aming posisyon diyan ay hindi tayo napasailalim ng ICC mula't sapul. Sapagkat 'yung Rome Statute ay di naman napatupad sa ating bansa sapagkat ito'y hindi nalathala sa isang pahayagang pambansa o sa Official Gazette," Panelo said.

He also said the ICC cannot continue its investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been accused of committing crimes against humanity in connection with his controversial anti-illegal narcotics campaign.

"Assuming na tayo ay napasailalim, assuming na tayo ay nag-withdraw, hindi maaaring ipagpatuloy ang ginawang o ginagawa nilang preliminary examination sapagkat sa Rome Statute ang nakalagay doon, kung naumpisahan ang preliminary investigation bago kumalas ang isang state party ay puwede nilang ipagpatuloy," Panelo said.

"Eh ang problema nga wala namang preliminary investigation na naumpisahan. Preliminary examination pa lamang."

The Philippines' withdrawal became final on Sunday, March 17, a year after it told the United Nations that it was quitting the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, the second nation to do so.

This comes after the body launched a preliminary examination of Duterte for his bloody anti-drug campaign.  —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News