No word yet on whether Philippines rejoining Rome Statute

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos merely smiled when asked whether the Philippines would rejoin the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC), which now has custody of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Speaking to Palace reporters yesterday, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said there is nothing to report yet about the matter.

“During our last conversation with the President, we asked him about that in person and he just smiled and he told me that what I should say is nothing has been discussed with regard to that,” the Palace press officer said in Filipino.

Calls for the Philippines to rejoin the treaty mounted after the arrest of Duterte over alleged crimes against humanity this month.

The Philippines ratified the statute in 2011, but Duterte, whose drug war left more than 6,000 suspects dead, withdrew the country from the treaty in 2019.

Duterte’s camp argues that his arrest was illegal because the Philippines is no longer a party to the Rome Statute.

Castro refuted this at a recent press briefing, saying the Supreme Court had ruled that the ICC has jurisdiction over all crimes committed before the withdrawal from the treaty.

Freeze order?

As some sectors raise the possibility of the ICC issuing a freeze order on Duterte’s assets, Malacañang said there is no commitment yet from the Philippines to follow such a directive because of the issue on jurisdiction.

“When it comes to the alleged incoming freeze order to be issued by the ICC, there is no commitment on our part, on the part of the administration, if we will comply with any order issued by the ICC, considering that the ICC as of the moment has no jurisdiction over the Philippines,” Castro said.

Earlier this month, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the complainants who accused Duterte of crimes against humanity, said the ICC may order the seizure or freezing of the former president’s properties as part of its legal process.

Citing the rules of the tribunal, Trillanes said the proceeds of a crime should not benefit anyone and such assets would be covered by a seizure order.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus published yesterday, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said the issuance of a freeze order “can happen at any stage” of the legal proceedings.

Castro previously said the Marcos administration would leave it up to the Anti-Money Laundering Council to deal with matters related to the possible freezing of Duterte’s assets to provide reparations for the victims of his drug war. — Helen Flores