Respect Marcos' position on ICC

(UPDATE) VICE President Sara Duterte on Thursday said the House of Representatives must «respect the position» of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the country.

Duterte issued the statement after the House Committee on Justice started to take up two resolutions urging the government to cooperate with the ICC in investigating offenses committed during the war on drugs waged by the administration of then-president Rodrigo Duterte, who is the vice president's father.

Resolutions 1393 and 1477, filed by the Makabayan bloc, House Committee on Human Rights Chairman and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, called on relevant government agencies to «extend their full cooperation» to the ICC prosecutor who will probe the anti-drug campaign.

Human rights groups claim that nearly 7,000 people were killed during the police crackdown on drug trafficking.

The vice president quoted Marcos's statement in March regarding his stand on allowing the ICC to conduct an inquiry in the country.

Marcos had said that he considers any investigation by the ICC as «an intrusion into our internal matters, and a threat to our sovereignty… We are done talking with the ICC. Like what we have been saying from the beginning, we will not cooperate with them in any way, shape, or form.» Duterte said the President «has likewise affirmed that his opinion is based on the fact that the ICC ceased to have jurisdiction over the Philippines upon the effectivity of our withdrawal from the Rome Statute on March 17, 2019.»

She said that allowing ICC prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes that are under the jurisdiction of prosecutors and courts is «not only patently unconstitutional but effectively belittles and degrades our legal institutions.»

«Let us not insult and humiliate our courts by showing to the world that foreigners can dispense justice in our country,» Duterte said.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said Thursday he believes the two resolutions simply convey a «sense of the House of Representatives,» and is not «sending a message» to the vice president.

«There were [a] succession