ANY charge filed against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) won’t prosper, a lawmaker said Thursday. Matobato has claimed he was involved in brutally killing about 1,000 people when Duterte was still mayor of Davao City. It was intended to complement, not replace, national courts in ending the gravest crimes against the international community. “In other words, Philippine courts have primary jurisdiction in any complaint for crimes against humanity,” Roque explained. Moreover, the Rome Statute only applies after a state ratifies the Rome Statute, which was in 2011 in the case of the Philippines.

Source: Manila Times March 15, 2017 16:18 UTC