Former Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo has voiced his backing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly initiated offensive against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Panelo labeled the move long overdue and criticized the tribunal for overreaching its bounds by interfering in nations that are not signatories to the Rome Statute.
In a released statement, Panelo embraced Washington’s decision to deploy a government-wide strategy aimed at curtailing the ICC’s reach, asserting that the body has continually violated the sovereignty of independent states outside its purview.
”The Trump administration’s launching of a government-wide campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), vowing to pressure countries to withdraw from the tribunal and accusing it of threatening U.S. sovereignty, as well as the sovereignty of other countries such as the Philippines, Russia, and Israel, is long in coming,” Panelo said.
He continued his condemnation of the court, characterizing it as an organization that coerces independent nations.
”It is about time the bullying of the ICC stopped,” he said. “The withdrawal of countries from the ICC will result in its well-deserved obliteration,” he added.
Panelo highlighted the arrest and confinement of former President Rodrigo Duterte concerning the ICC’s probe into purported crimes against humanity during the prior administration’s war on drugs.
He argued that this scenario perfectly demonstrates the court’s illicit meddling in the domestic matters of a state that had formally exited the Rome Statute.
”The illegal and unforgivable incarceration of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, which intruded into our country’s sovereignty with the cooperation of the Marcos Jr. administration, is a classic example of the ICC’s unlawful intrusion into countries that are not members of the tribunal,” he said.
He further noted:
”The ICC, by its intrusive and illegal actions against non-members, must be stopped at all costs,” Panelo added.
These comments come on the heels of a July 13 announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who detailed that the Trump administration had mobilized a comprehensive diplomatic effort against the ICC over concerns that the tribunal compromises American sovereignty.
According to the U.S. State Department, the counter-campaign is designed to heavily diminish the tribunal’s power to probe or indict American troops and state officials.
The multi-pronged strategy involves pressuring nations to abandon the Rome Statute, intensifying scrutiny on American aid recipients that collaborate with the court, urging non-signatory countries to dismiss the ICC’s authority, and exploring further travel bans, visa restrictions, and financial sanctions against court officials and associated entities.
Washington has persistently maintained that the ICC holds no jurisdiction over U.S. citizens since the United States is not a party to the founding treaty.
The Philippines officially severed its ties with the Rome Statute in 2019 under the Duterte presidency. Nonetheless, the international court insists it maintains judicial authority over alleged violations that occurred during the timeframe when the country was still a member state.
The investigation into the Duterte administration’s anti-drug crackdown continues to be a highly watched international legal matter for the Philippines.