The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Tuesday expressed its dismay at the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume the investigation into the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs campaign.
In a press statement, the OSG pointed out that the resumption of the probe demonstrated that the Chamber "refused to recognize the Philippine government's primary and sovereign right to investigate serious crimes, in derogation of the complementary principle."
"The Chamber's majority conveniently brushed this aside and worse, they refused to consider the Philippines' jurisdictional challenge on the ground that the Impugned Decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber is not a decision on jurisdiction," it added.
The OSG also insisted that the government has jurisdiction over the investigation since it is no longer part of the Rome Statute.
Citing the principle of international law, it said that the ICC must "satisfy itself of its own jurisdiction and this power to determine jurisdiction exists regardless" it is called upon to exercise.
But despite the ICC's decision, the OSG asserted that the national government will not be "deterred".
On Tuesday evening, ICC Appeals Chamber Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut announced that the ICC prosecutors will continue the drug war probe as the members voted a 3-to-2.
In April, the Chamber rejected the request submitted by the OSG to suspend the investigation as it cited that the Philippine government failed to explain "how the alleged absence of a jurisdictional or legal basis for the resumption of the Prosecutor's activities pending the resolution of the appeal would defeat its very purpose and create an irreversible situation that could not be corrected."
