President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. maintained his stand to not rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying he does not see any reason why the Philippines should.
During his interview with television host and one of his biggest supporters Toni Gonzaga on Tuesday, Sept. 13, Marcos explained why he thinks the country does not need to join the ICC or even allow it to investigate the alleged human rights violations here.
"I don't see any reason why we should. The ICC is, very simply, supposed to take actions when a country no longer has a functioning judiciary, has no longer some of the organs of the state, the police, etc. And that condition does not exist in the Philippines so I do not see what role ICC is going to play here in the Philippines," Marcos said.
Although he did not categorically reject the proposal to resume investigation on the war on drugs, the President said the country does not need the ICC to investigate the crimes committed here.
He expressed distaste on a possible order of the ICC to arrest someone in the country as a result of its investigation.
"Think about it, we will allow them to come in and investigate and tell us who to arrest. Mag-iimbestiga sila dito, tutulungan natin silang mag-imbestiga. Pagkatapos ng imbestigasyon sasabihin ikulong ninyo si ganito, ikulong ninyo si ganyan (They will investigate here, we will help them. And after that, they will tell us to arrest this person, arrest that person)," Marcos said.
"There is no need for them to come into the Philippines," he added.
"The alleged crimes were all committed in the Philippines, they were all committed by Filipinos, why will we need a foreigner to tell us how to deal with it? I don't think we do, I don't think we need," the President pointed out.
Only a state of war or a collapsing government system would prompt him to change his mind, he also said.
The Chief Executive has made a pronouncement that the country has no intention to rejoin the ICC in August as investigation on the drug-related crimes committed in the previous administration's war on drugs was already ongoing.
On Sept. 8, the Philippine government formally asked the ICC to deny the proposal to resume investigation on the alleged war on drugs-related crimes, saying "the ICC has no jurisdiction over the situation in the Philippines."