PH CONTROVERSIAL POLITICIANS composite image from INQUIRER FILE
Intervention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) violates Philippine sovereignty, according to the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who argued that allegations of crimes related to the war on drugs should be handled domestically rather than before an international court.
They maintained that the Philippines, as a sovereign state, should exercise sole jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed within its territory. They stress that the ICC is a court of last resort and has no mandate to intervention because local courts are fully functioning.
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In recent years, their camp has also emphasized that the Philippines is no longer a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. But that position carries a contradiction: Duterte himself withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute in 2018.
