Marcos vows to actively thwart ICC access to gov’t information

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to actively prevent International Criminal Court representatives from making any contact with government agencies or officials even if they are allowed to enter the country.

This comes after scathing remarks issued by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa — one of the most prominent architects of the drug war launched by former President Rodrigo Duterte — where he criticized the president for appearing to walk back on his previous stance of not cooperating with the ICC’s drug war investigation.

Marcos said in a news release on Tuesday that he still considers the ICC a "threat" to the country's sovereignty, vowing to block their access to all government institutions.

“As ordinary people, they can come and visit the Philippines, but we won’t cooperate with them. In fact, we’re on guard to make sure that they do not come into contact with any agency of the government,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino during an interview with the media.

Police personnel and local government officials have also been ordered not to cooperate with any ICC representative, Marcos added. 

The Department of Justice said on Tuesday that it has yet to receive an official advisory from the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding the presence of ICC representatives in the country. 

In a press conference on Monday, Dela Rosa, who previously served as Philippine National Police chief under Duterte, challenged the president to tell him upfront “if you want us investigated and jailed” and not to “stab us in the back.”

The senator also accused Marcos of changing the government's official position on the ICC's investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity committed in Duterte's war on drugs. 

In November 2023, Marcos said that proposals for the Philippines to rejoin the Rome Statute — which created the ICC — were “under study.”

This came amid the House of Representatives’ consideration of three resolutions urging the government to work with the ICC in its drug war probe. These resolutions have since been approved at the committee level.

Before that, the president rejected any move to cooperate with the ICC’s investigation, citing