PNP to ICC: Respect Philippines' sovereignty, justice system

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to respect the sovereignty of the Philippines and acknowledge its justice system, after the court authorized the reopening of an inquiry into the country's war on drugs.

"The PNP encourages the ICC to respect the Philippines' sovereignty and acknowledge the capacity of the Philippines' judicial system," PNP chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said at a press briefing on Monday.

According to Azurin, the Philippines has a robust and functioning justice system with active legal proceedings and remedies that address the claims of human rights abuses committed during the anti-drug campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday also said that if it were up to him, he will cause the arrest of ICC probers if they arrive in the country as he insisted that the ICC has no sovereign power over the Philippines.

"As the lawyer of the President, I will not allow, as far as I'm concerned, I will not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court of justice. They have no sovereign power over us. If they will come here... If I were to be followed, I will cause their arrest," Enrile told reporters.

The ICC, in its decision to reopen the investigation, said its pre-trial chamber "is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the court's investigations."

"The various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps," it said.

Duterte, whose term ended in June 2022, pulled the Philippines out of the Hague-based tribunal in 2019 after it began a preliminary probe and later on launched a formal inquiry into his much criticized drug war.

The international probe, however, was suspended in November 2019 after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths of suspects at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

Officially, 6,181 people were killed in Duterte's "war on drugs" but rights group say that up to 30,000 may have been killed, some of them innocent victims, and that corruption was rife among security forces that acted with impunity.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has described the ICC's decision as unwelcome and an irritant.

The Philippine government, meanwhile, intends to appeal the ICC's decision.

According to the ICC, the Appeals Chamber may reverse or amend the decision on conviction or sentence and may order a new trial before a different Trial Chamber. —KBK/KG, GMA Integrated News