President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. cited Wednesday the “overhauled” government campaign against illegal drugs to allay the concerns of Germany on the matter.
In an interview with reporters, Marcos said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz inquired during their bilateral meeting about updates on the investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the brutal war against illegal drugs during the administration of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.
He explained to Scholz that the government no longer recognizes the jurisdiction after the country withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019.
“I also went further and said we have actually completely changed the concept of the anti-drug campaign. Which is something that I’ve said before and even before the election,” Marcos said.
Marcos added his administration focuses on preventing the spread of illegal drugs and rehabilitating those who became addicted to its use.
This was in contrast to the approach of the Duterte administration, which made use of aggressive police operations against illegal drug traffickers, which killed about 6,000 drug suspects and resulted in the ICC probe on the matter.
“And so, we are on a much different approach and he [Scholz] listened to my explanation. I think we’re satisfied with that,” the President said.
Marcos also told Scholz there is no longer any need for the ICC to conduct a probe on the drug-related killings since local authorities and courts are already into the said cases.
“And so, it’s really a question of jurisdiction and we have our own investigations and we’re capable of conducting our own investigations and, so we are, we are continuing to do so,” the President said during his meeting with Scholz last Tuesday.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez