Marcos, Remulla yet to discuss ICC drug probe amid House reso —DOJ spox

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla have yet to officially discuss the country’s possible cooperation with the International Criminal Court's (ICC) probe into the Duterte administration's war on drugs, an official said Friday.

"I don't believe that the Secretary and the President have spoken yet," Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said at a Palace press briefing.

The ICC issue, he said, is "something that a is way above my pay level so I believe it's something that has to be discussed between the Secretary and the President."

Just earlier this week, the House Committees on Justice and on Human Rights adopted resolutions calling on the Philippine government to cooperate with the ICC probe on the thousands of deaths associated with the war on drugs.

Asked if there was any official communication between Marcos and the DOJ regarding the ICC issue, Clavano said there is none so far.

"I have talked about it before, marami na silang napag-usapan dati pa. Pero with the new news coming out, they haven't talked maybe for about a week about the issue (They have discussed a lot on this before but with the news coming out, they haven’t talked maybe for about a week about it)," he said.

Marcos initially said the Philippines is done talking with the ICC, and that the international court has no jurisdiction over the Philippines as the country has already withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

But just recently, Marcos adopted a softer stance and said the Philippines returning to the ICC fold is under study.  

Remulla, meanwhile, earlier said he would meet with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to clarify the government’s position on its membership with the ICC.    

The ICC probe was initially halted on the request of the Philippine government in November 2021 largely on the argument that local prosecutors are already investigating drug war deaths in police operations. 

But in July 2022, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan asked for a resumption of the probe, saying that the Philippine government had not demonstrated that it investigated or was investigating its nationals or others in connection with the series of killings attributed to the anti-drug campaign. 

The ICC ruled in favor of Khan's request in January 2023 and authorized the reopening of the ICC inquiry on drug war deaths during the Duterte administration. 

The Philippines again appealed such a decision in March this year, which the ICC again denied in July.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News