” DRUG WAR” Murders
Pangalangan, who served in the ICC from 2015 to 2021, said global legal law has evolved” to provide the highest officials of institutions to be accountable for their actions”.  ,
” There is no such item as head of state resistance, and there is no resistance that attaches to the deeds committed by, in this case, President Duterte, even at the moment when he was leader”, he told CNA’s Asia First on Thursday.  ,
Duterte, who arrived at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on a chartered planes on Wednesday, may be brought before an ICC prosecutor in the coming weeks for an initial look, during which the claims may be detailed in jury.
Pangalangan, who is also professor of law at the University of the Philippines, said the second step will be the assurance of claims, where Duterte’s attorneys are expected to make their concerns, including whether the ICC has the authority to investigate the alleged crimes.
Duterte, in a video posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday, said he was prepared to accept responsibility.
His war on drugs campaign defined his presidency from 2016 to 2022.  ,
During his six years in office, about 6, 200 drug suspects were killed, according to the Philippine police. But activist groups believe the real toll was much greater.  ,
The violence led the ICC prosecutor’s office to open a preliminary investigation into deaths in the Philippines in 2018.  ,
Shortly after, Duterte said the country would withdraw from the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute. The exit took effect in March 2019.
But under the Rome Statute, even if a state withdraws as a member, the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership period.