Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla inaccurately claimed that no other country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Remulla made the false statement during a Jan. 27 press conference when he was asked if the Marcos administration is discussing the possibility of having the Philippines rejoin the Netherlands-based tribunal. He repeated the false statement in a separate interview on GMA-7’s The Mangahas Interviews on Jan. 28.
Duterte’s order came a month after former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda launched a preliminary examination into the alleged killings and other crimes related to his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
In August 2022, Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., declared that the Philippines will not rejoin the ICC. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Marcos’ about-face on Philippines’ membership to the ICC)
BACKSTORY
On Jan. 26, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber granted the request of the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, to resume the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity, such as murder and enforced disappearances, that occurred in the Duterte administration’s drug war from July 1, 2016 to March 16, 2019.
(See The ICC and the Filipino (Part 1) and The ICC and the Filipino (Part 2))
The probe also covers the killings in Davao region perpetrated mainly by vigilante groups such as the so-called “Davao Death Squad” from November 2011 to June 2016. Duterte served as mayor of Davao City from 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010 and 2013 to 2016.
The investigation began in September 2021 but was temporarily suspended two months later upon the request of the Philippine government to Khan to defer to local procedures.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Feb. 6, 2023 to include the video fact check.
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