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Helen Flores - The Philippine Star
March 11, 2026 | 12:00am
NEW YORK – The Philippines still has no plans to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), Malacañang said on Monday, as the Philippine National Police prepares for possible protest actions marking the first anniversary of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and detention in The Hague.
The ICC, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, is investigating Duterte for crimes against humanity tied to his war on drugs.
“The President’s stance has not changed,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters in Filipino during President Marcos’ working visit in the United States. “We are still not rejoining the ICC.”
Duterte was arrested upon his arrival in Manila from Hong Kong on March 11, 2025. The Philippine government enforced an ICC arrest warrant coursed through Interpol.
In 2018 as president, Duterte ordered the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, after former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced a preliminary examination into his administration’s illegal drugs crackdown.
The Philippines officially cut ties with the international court on March 17, 2019, exactly a year after the Rome Statute’s revocation.
The PNP has heightened monitoring in key areas following online calls for protest actions, including a motorcade rally expected to pass through EDSA, ahead of a planned mobilization to mark the first anniversary of Duterte’s arrest and detention.
The five-member Appeals Chamber of the ICC earlier affirmed the Jan. 26 decision of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber ordering Duterte’s continued detention in the ICC.
It rejected the appeal lodged by Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, who argued that the pre-trial judges erred in their decision on the review of the former president’s detention.
The Pre-Trial Chamber I earlier ruled that Duterte is fit to participate in pre-trial proceedings, citing separate reports submitted by the independent panel of medical experts constituted to assess the former president.
Return to ICC
House senior deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima urged Marcos yesterday to let the Philippines become a member of the ICC once more.
“What’s stopping President Marcos Jr. from returning the Philippines as ICC member?” De Lima asked in a statement.
“His current and continued posture sends the wrong signal, both to the Filipino people and the global community. On the other hand, rejoining the ICC would assure the Filipinos that future tyrants and mass murderers would be brought to justice and held to account for their atrocities (and) crimes, should our domestic system prove unwilling or unable to investigate and try the cases,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos has formally demanded her brother’s administration to make public all the government’s communications, requests and directives coordinated with the ICC.
Filing proposed Senate Resolution 340 yesterday, the senator marked the anniversary of Duterte’s arrest by accusing the Marcos administration of violating the former president’s rights.
“Under settled constitutional doctrine, the unlawful deprivation of liberty constitutes a continuing violation that endures for as long as the restraint persists without valid legal and judicial basis,” she said.
By keeping the details of the ICC coordination under wraps, Sen. Marcos warned that the administration is setting a dangerous precedent that could be weaponized against other critics and law enforcers.
Mass for Duterte’s return
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday said the mass for Duterte’s safe return will push through today.
The former leader’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, will attend the mass at San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City from noon to 1 pm.
“Feel free to wear anything green,” VP Duterte posted on Facebook.
In a recent interview, the Vice President said the family no longer expects to bring him back to the country from The Hague. – Bella Cariaso, Jose Rodel Clapano, Neil Jayson Servallos
