Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 1) — Allowing the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigators to enter the Philippines to probe the Duterte administration’s drug war will depend on the country’s justice and immigration authorities, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Friday.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source, Guevarra explained there is no reason to prevent ICC officials from entering the country as long as there will be no illegal activities to be conducted and that they have the proper travel documents.
However, the authorization still depends on the assessment of the Bureau of Immigration with the guidance of the Department of Justice, he added.
He noted the Philippines’ immigration laws have “a wide latitude of discretion on the part of our immigration authorities to admit or not to admit certain persons whom they think may be considered as undesirable.”
The ICC decided to continue its probe into the bloody war against illegal drugs in July after its Appeals Chamber rejected the plea of the Philippine government against the resumption of the investigation.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said the government will consider it a crime if members of the ICC come to the country to conduct the probe.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa, who was chief of national police during the previous administration, said he favors arresting the tribunal’s officials if they insist on coming in.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has maintained that the government will not cooperate with the ICC. Menardo echoed this, saying there are no legal grounds to work with the tribunal, especially after the country withdrew its membership that took effect in 2019.
READ: Marcos: PH studying ICC return, no jurisdiction to probe drug war
“Cooperating despite the absence of a legal duty is a political decision that only the president can make,” the solicitor general noted.
