THE Philippines on Tuesday distanced itself from a campaign by the administration of US President Donald J. Trump urging countries to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying Washington’s latest position on the Hague-based tribunal is a matter of American policy and that Manila would continue to follow its own laws.
“The policy of the US is not within the scope of our government,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters in a Viber group chat in Filipino.
Ms. Castro was asked to comment on a statement by US Secretary of State Marco A. Rubio, who said on Monday that “nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under scrutiny.”
“This is a policy of the United States, and we respect their position,” Ms. Castro separately told GMA News. “At this point, we have no comment, as we are simply acting in accordance with our own laws.”
The Marcos administration has repeatedly said the Philippines has no plans to rejoin the ICC, while maintaining that its position on the tribunal is based on Philippine policy rather than that of any foreign government.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, in 2019 under former President Rodrigo R. Duterte after the tribunal opened a preliminary examination into his anti-illegal drug campaign.
Although Manila is no longer a state party, the ICC maintains that it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed while the country was still a member.
Former presidential legal counsel Salvador S. Panelo welcomed the Trump administration’s campaign against the ICC, saying the tribunal should stop what he described as interference in the affairs of sovereign states.
“The Trump administration’s launching of a government-wide campaign against the International Criminal Court, vowing to pressure countries to withdraw from the tribunal and accusing it of threatening US sovereignty, as well as other countries’ sovereignties like the Philippines, Russia and Israel is long in coming,” he said in a statement.
“The illegal and unforgivable incarceration of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, intruding into our country’s sovereignty with the cooperation of the Marcos administration, is a classic example of ICC’s unlawful intrusion to countries that are not members,” he added.
Mr. Duterte, 81, was arrested in March 2025 after Philippine authorities enforced an ICC arrest warrant and transferred him to The Hague, where he remains in the tribunal’s custody while facing allegations of crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign.
He has denied wrongdoing, while his supporters continue to challenge the court’s jurisdiction following the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute.
The US and the Philippines remain treaty allies under the Mutual Defense Treaty and continue to cooperate on defense, trade and other strategic issues despite Manila’s decision to treat Washington’s latest ICC campaign as a separate policy matter.
The ICC, established in 2002, prosecutes people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression when national courts are unwilling or unable to do so. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking
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