Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is not currently considering rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), but clarified that the administration is not permanently closing the door on future discussions regarding possible membership in the Rome Statute.<\/p>\n
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the President\u2019s latest position remains unchanged, although the matter could still be studied in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cAng huli niyang sinabi ay hindi pa po magri-rejoin. So, kung kinakailangan po sigurong aralin sa mga susunod na araw ay hindi naman po sarado ang Pangulo diyan (In our last conversation, he said we will not rejoin. So if there\u2019s a need to review in the next couple of days, the President is not closing the door about that),\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n
The Philippines formally withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 under former President Rodrigo Duterte following the ICC\u2019s preliminary examination into his administration\u2019s anti-illegal drugs campaign.<\/p>\n
The issue resurfaced amid renewed discussions on the possible enforcement of an ICC arrest warrant against Senator Ronald \u201cBato\u201d Dela Rosa, who served as Philippine National Police chief during Duterte\u2019s drug war.<\/p>\n
Castro maintained that while the Philippines no longer recognizes ICC jurisdiction as a member-state, the government continues to operate under Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.<\/p>\n
She said the law provides mechanisms either for surrender or extradition in relation to international tribunals.<\/p>\n
Castro said Marcos\u2019 standing directive to law enforcement agencies is to comply with existing laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cAng lagi naman pong utos ng Pangulo sa lahat ng enforcement agencies\u2026 dapat lamang ay sumunod kung ano ang sinasabi ng batas (What the President always want for all enforcement agencies is to follow the law),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Asked about concerns that the Senate\u2019s declaration of protective custody over Dela Rosa could complicate the enforcement of any arrest warrant, Castro said parliamentary privilege has limitations.<\/p>\n
She added the government has obligations not only under domestic law but also toward alleged victims of extrajudicial killings. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Palace clarified that the administration is not permanently closing the door on future discussions about ICC membership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t