Palace says ICC has power to probe drug deaths under ex-President Duterte

By John Victor D. Ordoñez and Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporters

THE PRESIDENTIAL palace on Tuesday said drug-related deaths under former President Rodrigo R. Duterte fall under the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction since Manila was still a member of the tribunal at the time.

“What the President said is that there is no jurisdiction now, that’s true,” Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing.

“But the crimes that happened… prior to the withdrawal from the Rome Statute are under its jurisdiction,” she added, citing the treaty that created the ICC.

The tough-talking leader, who was President from 2016 to 2022, was arrested last week in Manila, marking the biggest step yet in the ICC’s probe of his alleged crimes against humanity during an anti-illegal drug crackdown that killed thousands and drew condemnation around the world.

The Hague-based tribunal has been investigating him for crimes he allegedly committed when he was Davao City mayor and during the first three years of his government, when the Philippines was still a party to ICC.

The Philippines under his administration withdrew from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 when it started looking into allegations of systematic extralegal killings.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. earlier said his government was just doing its job in carrying out the ICC arrest warrant and cooperating with the International Criminal Police Organization, adding that it was nothing personal against his predecessor.

“The ICC case against Duterte is not a putdown or diminishing of domestic courts,” Maria Kristina C. Conti, an ICC-accredited lawyer representing several victims of the drug war and secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) in the National Capital Region, said in an e-mail.

“In fact, this case would be considered as instructive on the part of Philippine courts as well because we pick up jurisprudence from international bodies when the courts take on substantive international law,” she added.

During his six years in office, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations, by the police’s count. Human rights groups say the deaths could be as many as 30,000.

Mr. Duterte could become the first former Asian head of state to stand trial at the ICC, a court that has largely handled cases from African nations.

The firebrand leader made the crackdown on the illegal drug trade a key plank of his election campaign, promising to kill 100,000 criminals in his first six months in office and throw so many bodies in Manila Bay that the fish there would “grow fat.”

“Taking cue henceforth, we hope local courts accorded jurisdiction under law could take enough notice how concepts and principles, specifically of crimes against humanity, are evolving,” Ms. Conti said.

‘IT’S A DONE DEAL’
Meanwhile, Ms. Castro said it would be up to Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra whether to stay in his post after he recused himself from Supreme Court lawsuits seeking to declare former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s arrest as illegal.

“Nothing has been discussed about (about the President replacing Mr. Guevarra) because this is very recent,” she said. “But perhaps it would be better if the solicitor general himself assesses whether he is still fit to serve.”

In a Viber message to reporters, Mr. Guevarra, who was Mr. Duterte’s Justice secretary, said it he would leave it to the President to decide on whether to keep him as solicitor general.

“The Office of the Solicitor General is not only the government’s counsel; it is also the tribune of the people,” he said. “The President, in his wisdom, fully understands this.”

In a related development, government prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the consolidated lawsuits filed by Mr. Duterte’s children seeking to nullify his arrest for being moot.

“The President was merely complying with [Philippine] international obligations and performing his role as the chief architect of the country’s foreign policy,” the Department of Justice said in a 33-page pleading.

“This naturally is well within the President’s discretion to do so, and the exercise thereof is patently a political question, which is beyond the review power of the courts,” Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty, said in the plea.

The petition to produce Mr. Duterte’s body had been mooted by the fact that he is no longer in the country and is now under the ICC’s custody, he added.

“It’s a done deal,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla separately told reporters, referring to the ex-President’s arrest. “He’s already there [in the Netherlands], and he said he will face all the charges,” he added in mixed English and Filipino.

Also on Tuesday, Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting said the tribunal had ordered the Duterte siblings — Sebastian, Veronica and Paolo — to comment on the DoJ pleading within five days.

The High Court also “noted without action” the motion for reconsideration filed by Mr. Duterte and his former police chief, Senator Ronald M. Dela Rosa, seeking to reverse its denial of a restraining order against the ex-President’s arrest.

The ICC has scheduled Mr. Duterte’s trial for Sept. 23.