Duterte to invoke ‘proper legal defenses’ should ICC probe drug war — Guevarra

President Rodrigo Duterte will invoke “proper legal defenses” should the International Criminal Court (ICC) decide to conduct a full-blown investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity in the course of his campaign against illegal drugs, a Cabinet official said Tuesday.

“Should things come to the point where the President may have to answer or be investigated formally by the ICC, I think he has the proper legal defenses available and will invoke all of these legal defenses at the proper time,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in an online meeting of the Rotary Club of Makati.

Guevarra did not say what these legal defenses are, adding only Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was authorized to speak about ICC matters.

Duterte, however, has repeatedly said that the ICC has no jurisdiction over him, arguing that the Rome Statute— the treaty that established the ICC — is not enforceable in the Philippines because it was not published in a government publication.

The Philippines left the court in March 2019 on Duterte’s orders.

The ICC recently stated that 94% of the alleged victims of the drug war wanted The Hague-based tribunal to conduct an investigation.

Malacañang responded by citing wide public support for the anti-drug campaign, which has claimed thousands of lives since Duterte assumed office in June 2016.

The Palace also urged the victims to seek redress before local courts.

The ICC prosecutor’s request for a probe into the drug war-related killings and rights violations while Duterte sat as president of the Philippines and as mayor of Davao City is currently pending before the Pre-Trial Chamber, which is composed of three ICC judges. — RSJ, GMA News