Manila vows no entry for ICC probe officials

A senior Malacanang Palace official on Monday vowed the government would deny entry to investigators of the UN international Criminal Court (ICC) who want to visit the Philippines so they could look into the bloody and violent drug war launched by President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte on illegal drugs.

Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, was reacting to a US statement that it would revoke or deny visas issued to ICC representatives investigating alleged war crimes commited by American military forces in Afghanistan.

The US ia not a member of the Icc-based in The Hague in the Netherlands while the Philippine withdrawal from tribunal took effect on March 17 exactly a year ater it informed the UN secretary general of its intention to do so in 2018.

Panelo pointed out that ICC investigators could visit the Philippines as tourists but warned they would be deported by immigration agents if found to be violating conditions for their stay in the country.

“I’ll smile at them and tell them nicely, ‘You can’t do it here.’ You will be deported because you are violating our sovereignty,” Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel, pointed out.

But despite the Philippine withdrawal, the ICC has pledged to pursue its investigation of possible crimes in Duterte’s deadly war on drugs following the filing of alleged crimes of humanity against the president.

The government earlier complained that the ICC has “politicized” the alleged rampant human rights violations filed before the tribunal based on claims from Duterte critics, particularly opposition politicians that especially extra judicial killings were actually more than the 5,000 total death toll reported by the police.

But a government lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ICC Office of the Prosecutor could still pursue the charges against Duterte even with the country’s exit from the tribunal.

“There are probably calls on the ICC of the Prosecutor to file the charges now as a way of reaffirming the ICC’S jurisdiction continuing jurisdiction on alleged violations that occurred while Philippine was still a member,” the lawyer said.

But Malacanang’s Panelo cited the principle of complementarity that would allow the ICC to investigate allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes only if the country’s domestic courts are unable or are unwilling to do so.