DOJ: No official communication on presence of ICC probers in PH

The Department of Justice seal at its main office. (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines – To date, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not received any communication or confirmation that the International Criminal Court (ICC) members have arrived or will be coming to the Philippines.

“As of today, the DOJ has not received any official communication or confirmation regarding the presence of the ICC within the country,” the DOJ said in a statement Tuesday.

The DOJ issued the statement after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV revealed that ICC investigators had already visited the Philippines last December and gathered enough evidence against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“Specifically, the DOJ has not received any advisory from the DFA that the ICC has indeed entered the Philippines, a requirement that would trigger the interdepartmental coordination concerning developments that go to the very core of our sovereignty and the primacy of our Constitution and our laws,” the DOJ said.

In the Supreme Court ruling Pangilinan et al vs. Cayetano, the SC said while the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute and ICC is already effective, the Philippines still has an obligation to cooperate on investigation for crimes committed before withdrawing its membership.

The DOJ, however, argued that what the SC said is merely and obiter dictum (opinion) “or the court’s incidental expression of opinion not essential to the decision and not establishing precedent.”

The DOJ maintained that the country’s justice system is working and “capable of addressing internal issues without external interference.

The country is no longer a State party from the ICCs Rome Statute. On March 16, 2018, the Philippines submitted its notice of withdrawal from the Rome Statute after the ICC prosecutor opened a preliminary examination into the president Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity.

The withdrawal became official on March 17, 2019.

There are calls for the government to cooperate with the ICC after Duterte admitted on national television that he used confidential funds to finance his crackdown against people involved in illegal drugs.