If elected president, aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will allow members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to go to the country, but only as tourists and not as investigators.
"Papayagan ko sila dito pero magturista lang sila," Marcos Jr. said Tuesday night in a one-on-one presidential interview with Boy Abunda.
He said the intervention of ICC probers is only done in countries at war or in those that have no functioning judiciary.
Marcos Jr. asserted "we have a functioning judiciary," so he does not "see the need for a foreigner to come and do the job for us, do the job for our judicial system."
Our judicial system is fully capable of doing that," he said.
Marcos Jr. also said to allow ICC probers in the country will only raise "a great many questions about jurisdiction and sovereignty." He asked, "what is their jurisdiction to come here in the Philippines to conduct an investigation?"
He furthered: "Is that not a violation of our rights as a sovereign nation in the community of nations?"
Marcos Jr. said that ICC probers will only be allowed to conduct an investigation if those questions are answered.
In September 2021, the ICC formally launched an investigation into the government's deadly war against drugs.
But in November the same year, the government requested the international court to defer its investigation because the administration was already looking into the allegations.