Malacañang maintains ICC has no jurisdiction over PH gov’t amid deferred probe

MANILA, Philippines — While it welcomes the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to suspend its investigation on the Duterte administration’s drug war, Malacañang maintained on Saturday that the Hague-based court has no jurisdiction over the Philippine government.

“We reiterate that it is the position of the Philippine government that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over it,” acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

“This, however, does not preclude the government from communicating with the ICC, and it should be stressed that the government’s communication to the ICC was conditioned on the fact that in making that communication the Philippine government was not waiving its position regarding the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction,” he noted.

Nograles said the government welcomes the “judiciousness” of the ICC prosecutor, who has “deemed it fit to give the matter a fresh look.”

“We trust that the matter will be resolved in favor of the exoneration of our government and the recognition of the vibrancy of our justice system,” he added.

The government, through its Netherlands ambassador, earlier asked the ICC to defer the probe so as to give way to domestic efforts to investigate the alleged crimes against humanity. The ICC later suspended its investigation “while it assesses the scope and effect of the deferral request.”

The National Union of People’s Lawyers has urged the ICC to continue with its investigation and “not to allow itself to be swayed by the claims now being made by the Duterte administration.”

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