MANILA (UPDATED) — The Philippine Solicitor General is not too optimistic about a favorable ruling at the International Criminal Court with respect to its appeal against the resumption of the ICC’s probe on the drug war in the country.

“Yes, the ICC Appeals Chamber will rule on our appeal on July 18. Going by the series of ICC actions since 2017, we are not too sanguine about the forthcoming decision,” he said in a message to ABS-CBN News.

“We just want to exhaust all legal remedies available to us under the framework of the Rome Statute,” he added.

• ICC says ruling on PH govt's ICC probe appeal out on July 18

Guevarra said only 2 things could happen on July 18.

“If the government’s appeal is upheld by the ICC Appeals Chamber, then that will be the end of the ICC’s investigation into the Philippine situation,” he said.

“If the appeal is dismissed, then the ICC prosecutor will simply continue what he has been doing all along; i.e., investigate alleged abuses in connection with the so-called war on drugs. There will be no further appeal available to either side. In any event, the Philippine government will ensure that state sovereignty will be protected and asserted at all times,” he added.

Sought for comment on the prospective ICC ruling, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, in a press conference Friday, insisted that the country was no longer part of the international tribunal.

“They can decide in The Hague where the ICC is but that does not affect us here. They cannot enforce anything that they want in our country because we are not members of the ICC,” he said.

He declined to say if he shared Guevarra’s view on the prospect of getting a favorable ruling at the ICC.

“I will not even delve into it because we are not members. We’re just trying to work with them in the spirit of comity,” he said.

“But if things happen as they do, if they will be adversarial against us, so be it. But we are not members of the ICC and I don’t see them coming into the country to do anything they want to do,” he added.

In February 2018, then-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary examination on the situation in the Philippines, following submissions by various international and domestic rights groups expressing concern over the drug war killings.

Before she stepped down as ICC Prosecutor in June 2021, Bensouda sought the Pre-Trial Chamber’s (PTC) permission to proceed with the investigation in the Philippines.

The ICC PTC granted the request in September 2021 but ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan suspended the probe in November that year following a deferral request by the Philippine government.

But in June last year, Khan sought the resumption of the probe, telling the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber that the Philippine government had not demonstrated it investigated or was investigating crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction.

• ICC Prosecutor wants to resume probe on PH drug war

Despite opposition from the Philippine government, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber gave the go-signal to proceed with probe.

The Philippine government appealed the ruling with the Appeals Chamber, asking to suspend the probe while the appeal is being resolved.

That plea for suspensive effect was denied.

The ruling on the appeal will be announced on July 18.

Guevarra, who is in Washington DC for an investor-state dispute arbitration, said he could not personally attend the proceeding at The Hague on Tuesday.

Instead, the Philippines will be represented by Ambassador Eduardo Malaya, the Philippine Ambassador to The Hague, and Sarah Bafadhel, the British international human rights lawyer whom the Philippine government hired to assist in the appeal.

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