In a statement, Vice President Sara Duterte echoed the position long held by her father that foreigners should not be allowed to meddle in the country’s affairs, adding she will refuse to be a part of a process that would put shame on the country’s courts and judicial system.
“Allowing the ICC to conduct its probe in our country, in brazen violation of the constitution, is an absolute surrender of our birthright as a sovereign nation,” Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s former presidential spokesperson, said in a message.
The Philippines officially withdrew from the international tribunal in 2019 after then-president Duterte questioned its authority to investigate the campaign against illegal drugs that killed thousands of people.
Police say they killed 6,200 dealers who resisted arrest during anti-drug operations during Duterte’s term. Many thousands more users and peddlers were gunned down during the crackdown, in what authorities said were vigilante killings. Rights groups and some victims accuse the police of systematic cover-ups and executions, which they deny.
In November, Marcos said he was studying the Philippines’ return to the ICC’s fold, months after saying he would cut off contact with the tribunal.