Duterte claims: I don't have copy of Rome Statute that put up ICC

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday claimed that he did not have a copy of the document that indicated the Philippines' signing of the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In his Talk to the Nation on Wednesday night, Duterte denied that there was any publication on the Philippines signing the Rome Statute, which then President Benigno Aquino III signed in 2011 and sent to the Senate for concurrence. 

"Nagtataka ako dito sa mga bright sa gobyerno I'm not referring to anyone particular. Pati itong si [retired Associate Justice Antonio] Carpio... Justice ka man. Sige daw. Kindly elucidate the matter before the Filipino public," Duterte said.

"Walang recorded publication. Sabi ng Supreme Court the absence of a publication as Official Gazette is always fatal," he added.

He said that the government's move to pull out from the Rome Statute in March 2019 "was nothing really."

"There was nothing to withdraw in the first place," Duterte said.

"Ginawa ko lang 'yun to impress everybody... I was withdrawing nothing," he added.

"Court of white people"

Duterte also said he refused to face the international court, which he claimed were full of white people.

Duterte further pointed out that he prefers to be prosecuted by a Filipino judge at the Filipino court.

"Yan ang tandaan nila if they can solve that riddle, ready ako to ignore. Bakit ako ng haharap sa husgado na puro puti? Kung ako ay magpalitis, anong kasalanan ko? It will be before a Filipino court, Filipino judge," he said.

"Kung sabihin nila na death penalty so be it. Huwag niyo ako bigyan ng puti diyan it is atonement for sins nila yan. Sila yan sa colonial days na pinatay nila, kinalimutan ng mga p********," the tough talking President added.

According to the ICC official website, its current judges' nationality were from Africa, Asia Pacific, and Western Europe, among others.

Filipino lawyer Raul Cano Pangalangan even served as a former judge of the international court.

Focused on politics

Duterte also claimed that the ICC failed to investigate other human rights violations as it focused on the politics in the country.

"There are human rights violations everywhere hindi ninyo iniintindi. Nakikinig kayo sa politika dito. Trabaho ng Dilawan 'yan," he said.

"Kung ako makulong sa magdala ng limang dilawan, sabihin ko sayo. Magpakulong ako, magdala akong dalawang dilawan, mamili ako sa kanila. Paano ako dalhin? 'Yan ang problema ninyo," he added.

The Supreme Court  earlier said in a ruling that the Philippines was obliged to cooperate with the ICC despite its withdrawal from the Rome Statute. 

Before she retired, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the international tribunal had jurisdiction over the alleged crimes against humanity that have occurred in the Philippines during the period when it was a state party from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.

The Palace, however, consistently said that the government would will not cooperate with the international probe, citing lack of jurisdiction.

Three presidents

It took three Philippine presidents before the country officially signed the Rome Statute in 2011. 

Former President Joseph Estrada signed it on December 28, 2000. Estrada's successor then  President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, refused to take action on the statute or forward the treaty to the Senate for concurrence — supposedly because of her ties with the George W. Bush administration, which had declared it would not ratify the statute.

On August 23, 2011, the Philippine Senate finally approved that the Philippines will become the 117th signatory to the ICC.

But for CenterLaw, which was co-founded by presidential spokesman Harry Roque, had said there is no further requirement of publication in any newspaper of general circulation to make the treaty binding upon the Philippines.

The international law advocacy group also cited Republic Act No. 9851, or the International Humanitarian Law Act, which it said "allows our courts to try cases cognizable by the ICC under the principle of complementarity."—NB/LDF, GMA News