The Philippine government is determined to assert the country's sovereignty when it has refused to cooperate with any probe into the war on drugs by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the country remained an independent state with a functioning justice system and would not allow any interference from the foreign court.
The government earlier scoffed at the request of outgoing ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for the tribunal to launch a full investigation into drug war-related killings in the Philippines. Bensouda claimed that the preliminary examination showed there was "reasonable basis" to believe that alleged crimes against humanity were committed during Duterte's bloody anti-drug crackdown.
The Palace however insisted the President would not cooperate with such "legally erroneous, politically motivated" probe, citing lack of jurisdiction, basis, among others. The country has pulled out of the international treaty that created the ICC shortly after the preliminary inquiry on the drug war was launched in 2018.
"We are more concerned of asserting sovereignty and jurisdiction because the Philippines is an independent state and it did not give its consent to be a part of the ICC in a manner that it will waive its sovereignty and jurisdiction," Roque said over ANC Wednesday, June 16.
"That's our basis of our consent when we became a member of the ICC and we're just asserting that in this instance, there is no jurisdiction because we never surrendered the obligation to investigate and punish these individuals for these killings," he added.
READ: Palace confident ICC will junk request for drug war probe
The Palace has expressed confidence that ICC would reject Bensouda's request to open a full inquiry, saying the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the country since it was no longer a member of the ICC. The tribunal also could not launch an inquiry if the country would not cooperate, said Roque, who once lobbied for the country's membership in the foreign court.
Roque likewise argued that opening a formal ICC probe would violate the principle of complementarity that states there should be no overlapping in jurisdictions.
He noted that the ICC could only step in if the local courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute alleged abuses. The country's judicial processes are working normally, and that victims of alleged abuses can file cases before the courts, according to Roque.