I denounce the action of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to withdraw the membership of the Philippines in the International Criminal Court (ICC) today.
The statement was publicly announced by his Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Attorney Salvador Panelo to the members of the media.
Statement of the President as released by CPLC Panelo. Photo from The Philippine Star's Twitter account.
Statement of the President as released by CPLC Panelo. Photo from The Philippine Star's Twitter account.
Statement of the President as released by CPLC Panelo. Photo from The Philippine Star's Twitter account.
The question: Why did the President decided to cease its membership with ICC? What triggered him to do such thing?
To answer it: The President withdrew from ICC due to the violation of due process following its decision to conduct a preliminary investigation regarding his war on drugs campaign which claimed thousands of lives thus concerning human rights violations in the country.
Atty. Jude Sabio at ICC filing his complaint against President Duterte over his war against drugs. Photo courtesy of The Manila Times.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Screengrab from Bombo Radyo.
The President also emphasized that ICC doesn't have any jurisdiction over him as the Rome Statute was never published in the Official Gazette – the official journal of the Philippine government – thus it was never effective in the Philippines.
He also cited in his statement that “an international law cannot supplant, prevail, or diminish a domestic law." Duterte implies that the acts he is being accused of committing are not acts under the jurisdiction of the ICC. Accusations also arose as United Nations (UN) and ICC being "international bias" like criticisms from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard.
In my own personal opinion, this act made by the President shows an "admission of guilt and conviction" over the charges against him at ICC as the preliminary investigation has started to probe him in the government's bloody battle against drugs. If he knows that he is innocent of these charges, then he must not order such decision and let the justice system prevail. This already made the Chief Executive guilty through his actions.
ICC Official Seal. Photo downloaded from Wikipedia Commons.
I hope that the Philippine government must reconsider the President Duterte's decision to immediately terminate its inclusion in the International Criminal Court and instead subject itself to the Rome Statute in specific and to the rule of international law in general.
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