The Philippines is set to file on or before Monday, March 13, its appeal on the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume the investigation into reported deaths in the illegal drugs operations. Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra on Friday, March 10, said his office, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), will file the appeal brief in consultation with a foreign lawyer whom he did not identify. “The OSG drafted the appeal brief and our foreign consultant provided some inputs,” Guevarra said. He explained that “we have consulted a foreign counsel to assist us on procedural issues, but the Republic will continue to be principally represented by the OSG.” In an announcement issued last Jan. 26, the ICC said the “Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’ or ‘Court’) granted the Prosecutor's request to resume investigation into the Situation of the Republic of the Philippines (‘the Philippines’).” “Following a careful analysis of the materials provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations on the basis of the complementarity principle,” the ICC said. It also said that “the Chamber concluded that the various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court’s investigation.” Last Feb. 3, the OSG filed a notice of appeal before the ICC’s Appeals Chamber to challenge entirely the decision of the pre-trial chamber. “The Philippine Government disagrees with, and hereby rejects, the Pre-Trial Chamber l's conclusions…,” the notice stated. “The relief being sought is a reversal of the decision and the denial of the OTP's request to resume investigation regarding the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines,” the notice also stated. Last Jan. 27, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla had declared on Friday, Jan. 27, that he will not welcome the ICC to the Philippines to conduct an investigation. “Definitely I do not welcome this move of theirs and I will not welcome them to the Philippines unless they make clear that they will respect us in this regard,” Remulla said. “I will not stand for any of these antics that will tend to question our sovereignty or our status as a sovereign country. We will not accept that,” he stressed. The Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC took effect on March 17, 2019 after its notification was sent to the international tribunal in 2018 on instructions of then President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Remulla lamented that he could not understand “why they insist on entering the Philippines in spite of the fact we are no longer members and that the principles here is the issue of complimentarity.” “Complimentarity means you do not cross each other’s jurisdiction,” he said. He also said the ICC goes “to countries which have no functioning government, no functioning legal system, no functioning dominant military force. I think the world knows that we are a functioning country with a functioning judicial system.”