THE Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Monday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to confirm if indeed its investigators are already in the country to probe the previous administration's "drug war."
DoJ spokesman Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said they expect the ICC would "reach out and not avoid detection."
"Here in the Philippines, we conduct a very transparent preliminary investigation. The prosecution asks for evidence from both the complainant and the respondent. It will not rely solely on what one side is saying," Clavano said.
If ICC investigators are indeed in the country, as earlier reported, and they are not coordinating with the government, "how can we be sure that their investigation will be fair," the DoJ spokesman said at a public briefing on Monday.
"How can we be sure that they will only rely on the statements of activists or civil society groups that are left-leaning? We have to make sure that the process is fair and transparent as it would have been if done by the Philippine government itself. So we do hope that if ever they are here that they can reach out to us so we can have a constructive dialogue," Clavano added.
"We still do not want our justice system to be taken over. We have a working justice system, we have courts, we have prosecutors, we have our law enforcement agencies," he said.
In September 2021, the ICC approved the conduct of a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity allegedly committed under the leadership of former president Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign against illegal drugs. It suspended its probe in November 2021 upon the capital Manila's request, saying that it was carrying out its own investigations.
But in January 2023, the ICC said it was "not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations," and its prosecutors resumed their inquiry.
However, the Philippine government has maintained its position that the state has no legal duty to cooperate with ICC investigators.
Earlier reports said ICC investigators have already entered the Philippines to conduct its investigation on Rodrigo Duterte's "drug war."
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