Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) — Former Supreme Court Justice and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to investigate alleged abuses during the Duterte administration’s war against drugs.
“Even if we don’t return, the ICC has acquired jurisdiction over the case before we abandoned our membership there so jurisdiction has already been attached,” Morales told reporters on the sidelines of a transparency and accountability forum.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently said his administration is studying whether the Philippines should rejoin the ICC following resolutions filed in Congress urging him to cooperate with the court.
Marcos insisted that there are issues on jurisdiction.
EXPLAINER: ICC and its authority
But even if the Philippines doesn’t rejoin the ICC, Morales said the ICC should be able to carry out its probe.
“The act complained of was committed while we were a member of the ICC,” she said.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte previously said he would have ICC investigators arrested if they enter the country.
Marcos’s chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile echoed the former president’s stance.
“All barks, no bites!” Morales responded when asked about the issue.
