Marcos admin urged to restore Philippine membership in ICC

Former Senator Leila de Lima has called on the Marcos administration to restore Philippine membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure prevention of abuse of power and impunity.

"Apart from cooperating with the ICC’s probe into the Philippines’ situation relative to the Duterte regime’s drug war killings, one concrete way to honor the ICC as it marks its 20th anniversary is for the new government to restore its ICC membership," De Lima said in a statement Friday.

She added that restoring the country’s membership in the ICC will also "strengthen our defense against possible future acts of aggression by foreign countries and protect people from crimes against humanity committed by state forces."

In March 2019, then-President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the country's pullout from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.

One year and six months after this pullout, the ICC pre-trial chamber found reasonable basis to probe the Philippine government for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with Duterte's violent drug war.

De Lima is one the petitioners who questioned Duterte's decision to pull out from ICC before the the Supreme Court. A vocal critic of Duterte, she is currently detained over what she claimed as trumped-up drug charges.

"Our membership means a solid protection for all the Filipinos and is vital in upholding human rights of all persons, and the holding of public officials accountable to their abuses against the people they ought to serve," said De Lima, who sought reelection in the May 2022 elections but was unsuccessful.

The ICC, the court of last resort that can exercise jurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate crimes, marks its 20th anniversary on July 1.

The ICC probe on the Duterte administration's drug war was suspended on the request of the Philippine government in November 2021 largely on the argument that local prosecutors are already investigating the deaths related to police anti-drug operations. 

Last month, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan asked the ICC to resume the investigation, claiming the Philippine government had not demonstrated that it investigated or is investigating the drug war deaths. 

“The Philippine government does not appear to be investigating whether any of the alleged crimes were committed pursuant to a policy or occurred systemically, or whether any person in the higher echelons of the police or government may be criminally responsible. For these reasons alone, the Court should not defer to the  Philippine government’s investigation,” Khan had said.  —KBK, GMA News