Staying out of the ICC

A year ago this month, President Marcos said the return of the country to the International Criminal Court was "under study." The nation awaits his final decision on rejoining the ICC, from which the Philippines withdrew in 2019 when Rodrigo Duterte was president.

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Last month, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the country was not returning to the ICC. Bersamin told reporters that the President was not expected to change his mind on the issue, and the government would not forward to the ICC the findings of the congressional inquiries into Duterte's war on drugs. Bersamin, however, has been refuted previously in his statements, the latest by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro over Chinese aggression in Ayungin Shoal. So the public is still waiting for the President's final word on rejoining the ICC.