MANILA — Former president Rodrigo Duterte has "shrugged off" the recent decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC), junking the Philippine government's appeal regarding his drug war, according to his counsel Harry Roque.

Roque said Duterte "has always maintained that as an independent and sovereign state, only Philippines courts can try any crime committed in Philippine territory."

"[Duterte] has time and again said that because of this, he will face all his accusers anytime but before Philippine courts and before Filipino judges only," Roque said in a Facebook post.

The ICC handed down the ruling Tuesday past 4 p.m. Manila time, with ICC Appeals Chamber Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut announcing the decision on the Philippines' appeal.

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"The Appeals Chamber by majority... finds that the Philippines sets out the alleged errors in a manner that renders unclear both the precise nature of its challenge as well as the legal basis pursuant to which the challenge is made," Brichambaut said.

Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in 2019, a year after the Hague-based tribunal began a preliminary probe into the crackdown which has killed thousands.

The ICC launched a formal inquiry in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

At least 6,181 people have been killed in more than 200,000 anti-drug operations carried out, according to the latest official data released by the Philippines. ICC prosecutors estimate the death toll at between 12,000 and 30,000.

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REACTIONS

While Duterte just "shrugged off" the ICC's decision, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) expressed its dismay over the international body's ruling.

Because of the decision of the Appeals Chamber, the ICC "in effect refused to recognize the Philippine Government's primary and sovereign right to investigation serious crimes," Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said in a statement through Asst. SolGen Myrna Agno-Canuto.

"The Philippine government chose to submit data to the Office of the Prosecutor and later, to the Pre-Trial Chamber, not out of any legal obligation but purely on the basis of comity, consonant with its assertion of sovereignty. Its submissions bear out the internal investigation and prosecution activities undertaken so far by the government connected to the anti-illegal drug campaign," the OSG's statement read.

"The Chamber's majority conveniently brushed this aside and worse, they refused to consider the Philippines' jurisdictional challenge on the ground that the Impugned Decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber is not a decision on jurisdiction," it added.

Meanwhile, Duterte's daughter and incumbent vice president Sara, had no words for the ICC's decision when asked for a comment.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the former police chief who spearheaded the previous administration's bloody drug war, earlier also shrugged off the decision of the ICC, saying he doesn't care about what the international body does.

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—With reports from Johnson Manabat and Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

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