Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will no longer serve as messenger between the Philippine Senate and the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Senator Francis Tolentino.
Tolentino on Wednesday disclosed that the scheduled hearing of the Senate justice and human rights committee was canceled after his office received a letter from the DFA stating that “it can no longer facilitate the sending of letters to ICC.”
His panel was set to tackle the international tribunal’s probe into the Duterte drug war.In a letter dated April 17, the DFA told Senator Francis Tolentino that it cannot anymore send invitations to ICC officials to attend the committee hearings “out of respect for President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s) instruction to disengage from the tribunal.
Following the ICC’s rejection of Manila’s appeal to suspend the drug war probe, Marcos said “there’s nothing more that we can do in the government,” adding that the country is “essentially disengaging from any contact, from any communication with the ICC.”
