(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) “will never ever acquire jurisdiction” over him.
In a speech during the 145th Founding Anniversary and the 2nd Kanlahi Festival at the Bulwagang Kanlahi in Tarlac City, Duterte stressed how the ICC which is currently investigating alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines has no jurisdiction over him.
“They want me hailed before the ICC. Ayaw ko lang sabihin ngayon, but they will never, never, never acquire jurisdiction over my person,” he said as the audience applauded.
But Duterte did not reveal the reason why the ICC has no jurisdiction over him.
“Bakit? Hndi ko muna sasabihin. Basta, pagdating ng panahon, sasabihin ko sa inyo,” he said.
This was the second time that the President had said this.
The other day, Tuesday, March 6, in a speech at the oath-taking ceremony of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC), Duterte also said the international body “cannot acquire jurisdiction” over him, even in a million years.
“You cannot acquire jurisdiction over me not in a million years kaya ‘di ko sinasagot. Totoo ‘yan. Ayoko sabihin that has always been my weapon ever since,” he said.
On February 9, a day after the ICC announced it was conducting a preliminary examination on the alleged crimes against humanity that had been filed against Duterte and 11 other officials, the President said that the ICC treaty was not enforceable as law in the Philippines.
In a press conference then in Davao City, he said that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda should understand that the treaty that created the ICC — although signed by the Philippines in 2011 — is not enforceable as a law in the Philippines.
He said the ICC treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, does not bind the country because it had not been published in any official gazette as is required under Philippine jurisprudence.
While treaties form part of the laws of the land, he explained that there was no publication of the treaty that formed the ICC, specifically the Rome Statute which is also known as the International Criminal Court Statute.
“Now the treaty says that we sign the treaty, we deliver the documents in Rome, ang sabi ninyo, but those laws were submitted to you, but were not published — yung definition of what are the crimes that you can take cognizant of,” he said addressing the ICC prosecutor in a televised press conference on Feb. 9.
“One of the fundamentals is really is that you have to publish it in the official gazette, which this government did not (do). Not my government, I did not sign it,” he said.
“Was there any publication? None,” Duterte stressed then.
(Eagle News Service)