FACT CHECK: ICC has jurisdiction over drug war cases despite PH withdrawal

In the panel round, Dela Rosa said: “ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. Very clear. Article 127 ng Rome Statute. Sinasabi doon, hindi maabswelto ang Pilipinas sa mga pangyayari na sakop doon sa panahon na tayo ay miyembro. But, itong mga imbestigasyon na ito ay dapat nag-commence before tayo, before nag-effect ‘yung ating withdrawal.” 

(The ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. It’s very clear. Article 127 of the Rome Statute states that the Philippines is not absolved of incidents that occurred while it was still a member. [However], these investigations should have commenced before our withdrawal took effect.)

“Ang nangyari ngayon, ang imbestigasyon nila nag-start after the withdrawal so walang jurisdiction, kahit saan tayo mag-abot, walang jurisdiction ang ICC,” he added.

(What’s happening now is that their investigation started after the withdrawal, so the ICC has no jurisdiction. No matter what happens, the ICC has no jurisdiction [over the Philippines].)

Dela Rosa is considered the chief architect of the Duterte drug war that killed thousands of Filipinos. The bloody campaign is the subject of an ICC investigation formally opened in 2021, two years after the Philippines officially withdrew from the tribunal.

The facts: The ICC may still investigate extrajudicial killings linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs despite the Philippines’ withdrawal from the tribunal, as these occurred when the Philippines was still a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

The Philippines ratified the Rome Statute in 2011, officially becoming a member of the ICC and granting the court authority to investigate crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. In March 2018, Duterte announced the country’s withdrawal from the ICC, which became official in March 2019.

However, under Article 127.2 of the Rome Statute, a country’s withdrawal from the treaty does not discharge it from “the obligations arising from this Statute while it was a Party to the Statute.”

It added: “Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.”

The ICC began its preliminary examination into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs in 2018.

Similar claims have been previously debunked by MindaNews, PressOnePH, and Philstar.   

ICC probe: The ICC is investigating the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, which has been linked to thousands of deaths since 2016. In 2024, during congressional hearings on extrajudicial killings under his administration, Duterte said he has “no apologies, no excuses” for the drug war killings. (READ: Duterte’s admissions during Senate drug war hearing and what they mean)

The Marcos administration, which initially rejected cooperation with the ICC for its probe, has softened its stance. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla recently indicated that the government is open to limited cooperation with the ICC. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is a third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), serving as feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.

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