MANILA – Malacañang has recognized the International Criminal Court’s decision to junk the suit lodged by former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales against Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Del Rosario and Morales’ suit was a “futile exercise” and the ICC was right in dismissing it for lack of territorial and personal jurisdiction.
“This dismissal is consistent with our previous stand that the filing of the complaint is a futile exercise, as the ICC has no jurisdiction over China, it being not a state member,” Panelo said.
Panelo added that the ICC neither has jurisdiction over the Philippines, as the court failed to comply with the publication requirement in accordance with due process under the Philippine Constitution.
According to Panelo, President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen an effective mode accepted under International Law of directly engaging the People’s Republic of China in bilateral negotiations to resolve the South China Sea dispute in a peaceful, expedient and efficacious manner.
“In contrast, the Morales-Del Rosario tandem resorted to an ineffective process, evidently for its propaganda value,” he said.
“Apparently wanting to still milk the issue for media mileage to advance their pretended nationalism, they are still bent in pursuing their wrong tact despite the rejection of their complaint,” the Palace spokesperson added, citing the appeal planned by Del Rosario and Morales.
Del Rosario and Morales sued Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and China’s Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua last March of committing crimes against humanity in connection with Beijing’s activities to gain control over most of the resource-rich South China Sea.
According to the complainants, Xi and other officials were responsible for the destruction of the environment and the loss of marine resources in the area due to the creation of artificial islands, militarization, and various other activities./PN
