By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has appealed to the International Criminal Court not to allow itself be used by critics of the Duterte administration for their own political agenda.
Roque, speaking at the General Debate of the 16th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, said the Philippines is doing its best to address the issues of illegal drugs, criminality, and terrorism in the country.
He said that some individuals, whom he did not identify, are only out to destabilize the government through the ICC.
“We urge the Court to resist attempts by some sectors to treat the Court as a venue to pursue political agenda to destabilize governments and undermine legitimate national authorities,” Roque said.
“It is indeed actions like these that politicize and dilute the Court’s mandate which ultimately undermine national efforts to punish and prosecute crimes covered by the Statute and derail current efforts to achieve universality of the Rome Statute,” he added.