DUTERTE TO ARREST ICC PROSECUTOR IN PH SOIL
President Duterte first announced PH’s withdrawal from the Rome statute The constant expression of concern over the country’s war against illegal drugs, perceived to have affected the poor only
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has threatened to arrest an International Criminal Court prosecutor if she “exercises any proceedings” in the country, noting that the Philippines was no longer a member of the ICC.
“But what is your authority now? If we are not members of the treaty, why are you f ****** in this country? You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal and I will arrest you,” Duterte said when he arrived in Davao City from his visit to China and Hong Kong to attend the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference.
On March 14, Duterte first announced the Philippines’ withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute, a United Nations (UN) treaty creating the ICC.
In the statement, Duterte cited “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration as the reason for his withdrawal as a state party.
“Given the baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks on my person as well as against my administration, engineered by the
But what is your authority now? If we are not members of the treaty, why are you f ****** in this country? You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal and I will arrest you.
officials of the United Nations, as well as the attempt by the International Criminal Court special prosecutor to place my person within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, in violation of due process and the presumption of innocence expressly guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution and recognized no less by the Rome Stature, I therefore declare and forthwith give notice, as President of the Republic of the Philippines, that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately,” the President said in the statement.
This came after ICC special prosecutor Fatou Bensouda started a preliminary examination on the alleged human rights violations amid the Duterte administration’s intensified war on drugs.
Duterte has repeatedly said that the Philippines was better off without the ICC, noting that the court’s position is “flawed”.
He defended his decision to take back the Philippines’ ratification of the Rome Statute, noting that the treaty is not a law since it was not published in the Official Gazette when the Philippines ratified it in August 2011, during the time of former President Benigno Aquino III. /