News Roundup 24 November 2021
Nov 24, 2021 • 4 min Read
ICC: Philippine gov’t must give info on ‘drug war’ probes cited in deferral request | PHILSTAR.COM – International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said his office will ask the Philippine government to provide “substantiating information” on proceedings it cited when it sought deferral of the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the country over the “war on drugs.” This was after Khan said, in a document dated November 18, they will temporarily suspend its investigation into the Philippines as it “assesses the scope and effect” of the government’s request for deferral. In his latest statement, Khan said that the State seeking deferral of the probe must “promptly” provide information on investigations it cited to support their request. He explained that the Philippines must provide information that is “of tangible evidence, of probative value and a sufficient degree of specificity, demonstrating that concrete and progressive investigative steps that have been or are currently being undertaken to ascertain the responsibility of persons for alleged conduct falling within the scope of the authorized ICC investigation.” “Accordingly, and pursuant to rule 53 of the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Prosecutor will in the coming days request the Philippines to provide substantiating information regarding the investigations and proceedings referenced in its Deferral Request,” Khan added. The Philippines, in its letter to the ICC signed by Ambassador to the Netherlands Eduardo Malaya, said that the government is thoroughly investigating all reported deaths during anti-narcotics operations in the country.
Carpio doubts Marcos paid penalties imposed by court over tax case | INQUIRER.NET – Did former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. just admit his failure to comply with his court sentence? Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio raised this question on Tuesday as he noted that Marcos’ camp did not mention if he had satisfied the court’s order for him to settle his tax deficiencies in his answer to the petition opposing his presidential bid in the Commission on Elections. Instead, the son and namesake of dictator Ferdinand Marcos merely argued that the disqualification case against him should be tossed out since the 1997 ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) did not find him guilty of committing a crime involving moral turpitude. The appellate court’s decision upheld the earlier ruling of a Quezon City court in 1995 that found the younger Marcos guilty of nonpayment of taxes and failure to file income tax returns from 1982 to 1985 when he was vice governor and later, governor of Ilocos Norte. The decision became final and executory in 2001 after he withdrew his appeal in the Supreme Court. “In his answer, Marcos did not state that he paid the fine and deficiency taxes imposed by the CA,” Carpio told the Inquirer. “I think [he] did not pay the fine and deficiency income taxes as ordered by the final and executory CA decision,” he added.
Despite case ‘developments’, Palace asserts anew that ICC has no jurisdiction over PH drug war | Manila Bulletin – Malacañang has, for the nth time, insisted that the United Nations (UN)-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs. Cabinet Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles made this assertion Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 24, even as reports said that the ICC prosecutor is set to ask the Philippine government to provide information regarding the drug war probe cited in its deferral request. “While we have received reports that [ICC] Prosecutor Karim Khan will request the Philippines to provide substantiating information regarding its investigations into allegations involving the country’s anti-illegal drug campaign, we would like to clarify that we have yet to receive a formal request with regard to this matter,” Nograles said. “That being said, we reiterate our position that the ICC has no jurisdiction to probe our campaign against illegal drugs,” underscored the Palace official.
PH records 890 more COVID-19 cases | Manila Bulletin – The Philippines recorded only 890 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Wednesday, Nov. 24. Based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) case bulletin, the active cases nationwide dropped to 17,864 or only 0.6 percent of the country’s overall tally since last year—which currently stood at 2,828,660. Of the active cases, 53.4 percent are mild, 4.8 percent are asymptomatic, six percent are in critical condition, 14.4 percent severe, and 21.39 percent are in moderate condition. The country’s total number of recoveries increased to 2,763,114 after 1,710 more patients survived from the viral illness. The death toll, meanwhile, climbed to 47,682 with 200 new fatalities.
