PH reviews ICC cooperation after US call to dismantle tribunal – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday said the Philippine government is reviewing its policy on cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) following the United States government’s campaign to dismantle the tribunal.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Department of Foreign Affairs is assessing the possible implications of the US position on the ICC, but Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro will first consult President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before announcing the government’s official stance.

“For now, the possible implications are still being studied. We are also examining what impact this may have on the implementation of our laws,” she added.

Castro declined to directly answer whether the review could affect the Philippines’ ongoing cooperation with the ICC in cases related to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, pending the President’s pronouncement.

“[But] since we are pursuing justice for our fellow Filipinos who were allegedly victims of brutal killings, this is not something that the government can simply disregard,” she said.

“Whatever the outcome of the ICC cases may be, if the President believes it will bring justice, it should bring justice not only to the alleged victims but also to those who may be considered the respondents,” she added.

Malacañang’s latest statement marked a departure from its previous pronouncement, which distanced itself from the Trump administration’s campaign against the ICC to isolate the Hague-based institution and deprive it of political and financial support.

READ: US launches campaign to ‘dismantle’ ICC

In a video message on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the campaign includes stepping up sanctions against “foreign bureaucrats” who constitute the court.

“We will watch with interest which nations join ranks with us against this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others,” Rubio added.

According to the US State Department, the campaign will pressure other nations “to withdraw from the ICC and cut off any financial support to the court.”

It also warned that “nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under increased scrutiny.”

The US is the largest export destination for the Philippines, and one of the country’s top overall trading partners.

Bilateral trade reached $26.9 billion in 2025. Philippine exports to the US totaled $17.8 billion in 2025, up 25.4 percent from $14.3 billion in 2024.

Treaty ally Washington has also been one of the biggest sources of official development assistance, and partner in the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Manila withdrew from the Rome Statute that created the ICC in 2019 during the term of then-President Rodrigo Duterte in a bid to stop the ICC prosecutor from its investigations on his war on drugs. The withdrawal took effect a year later.

Despite calls from lawmakers and different sectors, Marcos has ruled out rejoining the ICC.

In March 2025, Duterte was arrested by Philippine authorities following an order from the ICC over crimes against humanity charges for being an indirect co-perpetrator in the extrajudicial killings during the antidrug and anticriminal campaigns from 2011 to 2019, when he served as Davao City mayor and later on as President.

He has since been detained at The Hague and will face trial by November.

The ICC also issued a warrant of arrest against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, for being a co-perpetrator in the Duterte case as a former chief of the Philippine National Police and architect of the war on drugs.

Dela Rosa has been in hiding since the failed attempt of Philippine authorities to serve the warrant of arrest against him inside the Senate premises in May.

To prevent another escape from authorities, Malacañang committed that future warrants of arrest to be issued by the ICC against Dela Rosa and Duterte’s co-perpetrators would be enforced “immediately,” following Supreme Court decisions and resolutions favoring the government.

In carrying out the arrests ordered by the ICC, the Marcos administration’s official said the country still has residual obligations as the alleged crimes were committed by Duterte and his co-perpetrators when the ICC still had jurisdiction.

Malacañang had also repeatedly invoked Section 17 of Republic Act No. 9851, or the “Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity,” which mandates the government’s cooperation, including the surrender of an accused, with international tribunals like the ICC.

Duterte’s allies expressed their support to the US and criticized the Marcos administration for its inaction on the US government’s call.

READ: ICC chamber cancels Duterte status review

“The issue is not whether the Philippines can control US policy, but whether the government understands that its continuing cooperation with the ICC may expose the country to heightened scrutiny and possible diplomatic, visa, or economic consequences,” Senator Imee Marcos, sister of President Marcos, said on Wednesday.

According to the senator, by continuing to assist the ICC, the Marcos administration “may be putting Philippine interests and our strategic relationship with our principal treaty ally at unnecessary risk.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s chief presidential legal counsel, said the Trump administration’s offensive against the ICC “is long in coming.”

“It is about time the bullying of the ICC must stop. The withdrawal of countries as members of the ICC will result in its deserving obliteration,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

He cited the “illegal and unforgivable” detention of Duterte as among the ICC’s “unlawful” intrusions into the sovereignty of the Philippines, which is no longer a member of the ICC.

“The ICC, by its intrusive and illegal actions against non-members, must be stopped at all costs,” Panelo said. /mcm