PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his legal team discussed the government’s course of action in dealing with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

This was revealed by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra amid the ICC’s recent move asking the Philippine government to respond to a request to resume the ICC probe.

It was not known when exactly the meeting was held in Malacañang. The participants in the meeting were Guevarra, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

“The only agenda was the government’s position on the ICC investigation. But I’d rather leave it to the President to make any disclosure at this time,” Guevarra said.

Recently, the ICC has asked the Philippine government to respond to Prosecutor Karim Khan’s plea before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to resume their investigation into the bloody war on drugs.

Last December, the ICC announced that it was suspending investigation into the supposed atrocities committed during the campaign against illegal drugs to assess a deferral letter-request from the Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands.

The letter-request, dated November 10, 2021, told the ICC that the Philippine government was investigating the alleged crimes.

But last month, Prosecutor Khan has asked the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I in a 53-page application, to authorize the resumption of their investigation into the Philippines’ bloody war on drugs that resulted to thousands of unnecessary deaths.

” After a careful and thorough review of all the information provided by the Philippines, as well as other information available publicly, provided by third parties, or already in our collection, I have concluded that the deferral requested by the Philippines is not warranted, and that the investigation should resume as quickly as possible,” Khan said in a statement.

“The majority of the information provided by the Philippine Government relates to administrative and other non-penal processes and proceedings which do not seek to establish criminal responsibility, and therefore cannot warrant deferral of the ICC’s criminal investigation. The various proceedings referenced by the Philippines also fail to sufficiently mirror the authorised ICC investigation,” he added.

The Philippine Justice Department led a panel of several government agencies, including law enforcement units, in reviewing 5,655 anti-drug operations that resulted in deaths to see whether to file charges against the police officers involved.

The DOJ has been granted unprecedented access to PNP’s records of deaths during the government’s war on drugs.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Hector Lawas