No mechanism to allow ICC entry – DOJ chief

MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC) are not welcome to investigate on Philippine soil the Duterte administration’s alleged crime against humanity as there is “no mechanism” that allows such a probe to proceed, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday.

The Philippines, Remulla said, has its own legal system that can address the country’s problems and there is no justification for the ICC to enter to investigate the killings linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.

“If the ICC insists on coming in, let me tell you this, there is no mechanism by which the ICC can come in because this was not contemplated in the drafting of the law of the treaty before we became a signatory for a few years from which we withdrew,” Remulla told reporters.

Asked whether the government would have ICC prosecutors arrested if they enter the country with the intent of commencing their investigation, Remulla said “just a fair warning – do not monkey around with our legal system.”

“If they want to put into themselves the judicial powers of this country, then they will be committing a violation of our legal system,” he said.

“There is no accepted mechanism, so how can they come in? I see no way for them to enter the country,” he added.

A flurry of legal remedies from the Office of the Solicitor General did not stop the ICC from clearing the way for prosecutors to commence their investigation into the drug war killings between July 2016 and March 2019, including in the Davao region between 2011 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City.

The Philippines appealed the ICC’s go-signal, which ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asked to be dismissed. It is now awaiting resolution by the ICC’s Appeals Chamber.

But whatever is decided by the Appeals Chamber, Remulla said the government would never allow ICC prosecutors to “operate in our country.”

Remulla also said the move of administration-allied lawmakers to defend former president Duterte from the ICC investigation is “natural.”

“The ICC is a political body in many ways. It is not just a body for justice but it is meant to forward a political agenda for many people. Why do I say this? Because we are a country with a legal system that can function by itself and they want to take over some of our functions just to criticize the way we run our country before,” he said.

“That’s not right. That’s why we will not bow down to their political agenda,” he added.