The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday it will follow President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in reiterating the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and his government will not cooperate in its investigation on war on drugs of the previous administration.

President Marcos insisted on Tuesday that he does not recognize ICC’s jurisdiction and considers it as a threat to the country’s sovereignty.

And if the ICC is contacting agencies of government such as police personnel and local governments, Marcos said he directed them not to cooperate with the representative of the international body.

“We will follow the lead of the President,” Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said in a Palace press briefing when asked about the President’s pronouncements on the ICC probe.

And in case he meets the ICC representative, Abalos said he would inform the international body that the Philippines has always upheld transparency and as a democratic country, it adheres to all laws.

The ICC authorized in January 2023 the reopening of the inquiry after it was suspended in November 2021, and in July 2023 the ICC Appeals Chamber also denied the government’s appeal against the resumption of the probe.

In November last year, President Marcos said that returning into the fold of the international tribunal is “under study” although he recognized problems on the issue of jurisdiction.

The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte after the tribunal began an investigation into his administration’s drug war. PND