FACT-CHECK: PH still legally bound to work with ICC despite withdrawal in 2019

CLAIM: The ICC ceased to have jurisdiction over the Philippines upon its withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019

RATING: FALSE

In an official statement released on Nov. 23, Vice President Sara Duterte falsely claimed that the country was no longer obliged to comply with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the crime against humanity of murder, committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign” and that any further intervention is “patently unconstitutional” and degrades the country’s legal institutions.

Contrary to the vice president’s claim, the Philippines is still legally bound to work with the international court, based on a Supreme Court’s decision.

This fact is attributed to the country joining the ICC in 2011 and becoming its 117th member.

Under Article 127.2 of the Rome Statute, while the Philippines has withdrawn its membership to the ICC, the country cannot be discharged from its obligations under the statute while the Philippines was still a party, including any criminal investigations and proceedings.

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled in 2021 that the Philippines must cooperate with the ICC despite withdrawing from the Rome Statute.

In February 2018, then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda declared the opening of the preliminary examination on the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that had claimed 8,663 lives.

A month after this announcement, the Philippine government submitted a written notification expressing its decision to part ways with the ICC and withdraw from the Rome Statute.

However, the international body can still investigate alleged crimes committed in the Philippines from Nov. 1, 2011, until March 16, 2019. Yvounne Bermudo

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Yvounne Bermudo is a Journalism student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and an intern for PressOnePH. This piece was created under the supervision of PressOnePH’s editors.