The Philippine government’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) is just and legal in accordance to its continuing obligations to the Rome Statute, which the country signed. Atty. Krissy Conti stated this in reply to Rodrigo Duterte’s legal adviser Salvador Panelo who said that the ICC cannot prosecute the former president. Conti is one of the main counsels representing the families of the victims of Duterte’s bogus anti-drug war.

At the onset, Panelo and Duterte’s camp have been spreading word that the ICC has no authority in the Philippines as the country withdrew its membership to the court in March 2019. This was belied by the Department of Justice secretary Jesus Remulla’s recent statement that the country is “open” to the ICC, despite not being “directly involved” in the court’s investigation.

Before this, the Marcos government admitted that it is the Philippines’ duty to respect the ICC’s arrest warrant if the order goes through the International Police or Interpol. Remulla said the government is aware that ICC investigators entered the Philippines several times last year to interview witnesses.

“[The Philippines’] withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings…to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and [the crimes] were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective,” according to Article 127 of said statute, the legal basis of the ICC formation.

Attorney Conti said the DOJ secretary’s recent statement “conforms” to the Rome Statute. On the other hand, she called the Duterte camp “pathetic” in their repeated denials: that the ICC has no authority, that the killings are not crimes against humanity, and most ridiculous, the denial that the anti-drug war mass killings did not occur.

“They bank on Nazi propaganda, that a lie repeated over and over becomes truth,” the lawyer said. On a program where she and Panelo were both guests, she told the advisor: “See you in the ICC.”

“The ICC is moving as methodically as it can to uncover what really happened here,” Attorney Conti said. It opened a live portal for witness appeals, signaling a more open approach in its investigation, she said. This January, news emerged that Edgar Matobato, one of Duterte’s former personnel involved in extrajudicial killings when he was mayor of Davao City, is now under the custody of the ICC.

“Last month, the court granted warrants of arrest for the situation in Palestine; yesterday (January 23), the prosecutor applied for warrants of arrest for the situation in Afghanistan. We hope the next development will be in ours,” Conti said.

Attorney Conti is one of the ICC’s associate lawyers in the case against Duterte. She is a member of the National Union of People’s Lawyers.

Meanwhile, Makabayan congressmen pushed for the immediate return of the Philippines to the ICC.