Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Risa Hontiveros welcomed the remarks of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on the Philippine government now being open to talking again with the International Criminal Court (ICC) long after its previous hardline stance against cooperating with the international tribunal with regard to the latter’s investigation into the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs.

“Secretary Remulla’s announcement on the ICC’s investigation on Duterte’s war on drugs gives us hope that real justice for the thousands of victims of the former administration’s killing spree could finally come,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Friday (January 23). 

Hontiveros hopes that the government sees the need to cooperate with the ICC not only because it is duty-bound to do so, but more importantly, to serve justice to the families of the slain victims. 

“Kung magkakaroon man ng pag-uusap sa pagitan ng ating gobyerno at ng ICC, makita sana ng gobyerno na kailangan nitong tumulong sa imbestigasyon, ‘di lang dahil sa treaty obligations natin kundi lalu na para sa mga pamilya nina Kian delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz, Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman, at iba pang mga pamilya na matagal nang dumadaing ng hustisya,” she said. 

PH on ICC 

In an interview with Reuters, Remulla said the Marcos administration will sit down with the ICC to discuss “certain areas” of cooperation with respect to the international tribunal’s investigation of alleged extra judicial killings in the country.

“We will talk to them soon in a very well-defined manner, in the spirit of comity. Some people are trying to bridge the divide to bring us together, so we can sit at one table,” Remulla said. 

Remulla said cooperation with the ICC is permissible under the law since its representatives “have been going in and out of the country without us raising anything.”

“I know that, as anecdotally from people I know from the human rights community, they’ve been in contact here,” he said. 

The Justice Secretary said the Marcos administration is in fact, “starting to explore the limits of non-membership to the ICC and the extent of crimes committed prior to the withdrawal” even if it has yet to decide to rejoin. 

2019 withdrawal 

The Philippines’ membership to the ICC, having been a party since 2011, came to an end when the Duterte administration in March 2018 deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Rome Statute, a United Nations treaty that created the ICC which took effect in March 2019. 

Duterte had announced the country’s withdrawal a month after Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the opening of investigation into crimes against humanity in the Philippines including the possible criminal responsibility of the former President himself

ICC prosecutor has been examining alleged extrajudicial killings of Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ since July 2016. 

The Philippine Coalition for the ICC in 2018 filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the validity of the government’s withdrawal saying it violated the Constitution for not requiring the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the Senate.

Former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque answered that the President is the chief architect of the country’s foreign policy and that the Constitution “makes no mention that concurrence of the Senate is necessary to validate the Philippines’ withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).”