Palace threatens to withdraw from Int’l Criminal Court

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

The Philippine government threatened on Tuesday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it would not observe the principle of complementarity, which states that it will only exercise jurisdiction if the state party of the accused is “unable or unwilling” to prosecute the crime.

“Although the statement has not been finalized, my statement is we agreed to be a member of the ICC because of the principle of complementarity that the court will only exercise jurisdiction if our courts are unwilling or unable to exercise jurisdiction on any crime cognizable by the International Criminal Court,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

“And to violate the principle of complementarity would be to violate the very basis of our consent to be bound by the Rome Statute and if this will happen, then there may be a possibility that the Philippines, like the three other African states, may withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC,” he added.

Roque is set to represent the Philippines in the annual ICC Assembly of State Parties, the tribunal’s policy-making body.

In April, Jude Sabio, lawyer of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, sued President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity before the ICC over the spate of extrajudicial killings connected to the government’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs. /je