Palace: PH need not rejoin ICC to fight impunity

MANILA, Philippines — There is no need for the Philippines to restore its membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to demonstrate its commitment to fighting impunity, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Thursday.

This came after Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima filed House Resolution No. 1056 urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to rejoin the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.

READ: De Lima files resolution urging government to rejoin ICC

According to Castro, the country is already implementing Republic Act No. 9851, or the “Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity,” which is being used to hold accountable individuals with cases before the ICC.

“We respect and hear what the honorable Congresswoman Leila de Lima is saying, but that does not mean that if the country has not yet rejoined the ICC, the administration’s sincerity in holding accountable those who should be held accountable can no longer be seen,” Castro said in Filipino.

READ: Marcos weighing public sentiment on PH return to ICC – Palace

She added that former President Rodrigo Duterte was surrendered to the ICC through cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization, despite the Philippines no longer being a party to the Rome Statute.

“Therefore, this does not show a lack of sincerity on the part of the administration in ensuring that those who should be held accountable are held accountable,” Castro said in Filipino.

The Philippines became a party to the Rome Statute in November 2011 during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III.

His successor, Duterte, ordered the Philippines’ withdrawal from the statute in March 2018. /mcm