A Department of Justice (DOJ) official said the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not need to step in when it comes to the country’s way of resolving the issue of Duterte's war on drugs.

Special Prosecutor Karim Khan was given authority by the ICC to continue the investigation of the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a media forum on Saturday, the DOJ declined the resumption of the investigation since the Philippines has a working justice system and is capable of arresting those involved, according to Justice Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano.

“What we’re trying to say is we are doing a genuine investigation on the killings from 2016 up to 2019 or even up to the end, 2022. If there’s a working justice system then the ICC cannot come in, and supplant or substitute our working justice system with their own; dahil gumagana naman,” Clavano said.

He explained that under international law, the complementarity principle is observed, and if a country does not have the ability to investigate, the ICC can come.

“So in international law, when that happens, they can only complement iyong ating investigation, and they cannot substitute,” Clavano added.

The ICC and the Philippines have been coordinating with each other and last September 8, 2022, the ICC found the investigation lacking despite the submitted progress report, records, and files of the investigation.

Sovereignty is the reason why the Philippines has been resisting ICC's coming to the country, Clavano said. He also added that international law is about consent.

According to Clavano, countries in the African content like Uganda, Congo, and Sudan do not have a well-functioning justice system and have experienced a breakdown in the civil order, which based on ICC’s history are the countries that the international court has investigated.

Calavano added that if the country accepts the decision of the ICC, it’s as if the Philippines is on the same level as the mentioned African countries that have no government. He added that the Philippines may have some limitations and challenges, but still has a working justice system.

It is also aligned with the President’s policy wherein the Philippines is no longer part of the Rome Statute and is outside of the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Clavano said that the DOJ will administer a full-blown investigation of the drug war and will collect the right evidence, obtain the witnesses, and properly screen all the facts of the cases. However, he said, these things will take time and conviction is not immediate.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) acknowledged that more than 6,000 individuals were connected to the drug war and were killed during Duterte’s reign.