Marcos says Philippines not keen on rejoining ICC

MANILA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said on Monday that his government is not keen on rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Marcos said the ICC's ongoing investigation into the crime against humanity allegedly committed by the previous Rodrigo Duterte administration is not needed, adding the government is also conducting its investigation on the matter.

Marcos convened his legal team last week to discuss the administration's strategy in dealing with the ICC.

"I asked for the meeting so that we will know what to do if we will respond or not," Marcos told a press conference, stressing the need to figure out how his administration will respond because the ICC "is a very different kind of court."

The Philippines officially informed the United Nations in March 2018 about its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC after the body launched a probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings related to Duterte's anti-drug campaign.

Duterte at that time said the ICC accusations are "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks."

According to Philippine government data, more than 6,000 people were killed in the war on drugs that Duterte launched after he took office in 2016.

Nevertheless, the ICC continued its probe after an ICC prosecutor asked the pre-trial chamber to resume the investigation. The ICC chamber asked the Philippine government to submit a comment showing proof that the national justice system of the Philippines is working to ensure accountability for the alleged crimes by Sept. 8.