European Union renews call on Philippines to rejoin ICC

MANILA, Philippines — The European Union yesterday renewed its call for the Philippines to rejoin the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In an interview during a visit to The STAR office in Parañaque, EU Ambassador Massimo Santoro said that rejoining the ICC means upholding human rights and a step to holding leaders accountable for the worst crimes.

“The Philippines is not part of ICC at the moment. I hope it becomes (an ICC member) again,” Santoro said.

Human rights groups have also called on the Marcos administration to rejoin the Rome Statute and cooperate fully with the ICC’s investigation, including if further arrest warrants are issued against other former and current Philippine government officials.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte was flown to The Hague, Netherlands in March and transferred to ICC custody to be tried for crimes against humanity in connection with his drug war.

The Philippines withdrew from the ICC “effective immediately” in response to the ICC’s move in February 2018 to launch a preliminary examination of Duterte’s drug war killings to determine whether to open a full-blown investigation.

Meanwhile, human rights groups are pushing for the immediate resumption of proceedings against former president Duterte at the ICC.

The Duterte Panagutin Network in Europe described as a “grave disservice” to the victims the recent decision of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to postpone Duterte's confirmation of charges.

On the other hand, in an interview in The Hague posted by former presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Facebook, Duterte’s youngest daughter Veronica, or Kitty, said that her father is healthy and strong.

“I’d like to reiterate that we were advised to refrain from sharing information about our visits with him but all I can assure you is that he is alive and well,” Kitty said. — Janvic Mateo, Bella Cariaso