President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos said on Friday that his government would not cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into the deadly “war on drugs” carried out by his predecessor.

The refusal comes days after the ICC said it would relaunch its probe into an anti-drug crackdown that killed thousands.

Marcos said the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, just days after the court restarted its investigation into the thousands of killings committed under former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We will not cooperate with them in any way, shape or form,” Marcos told reporters.

Marcos’ refusal to cooperate mirrors that of his predecessor, who also argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the South-East Asian nation.

Under Duterte, the Philippines withdrew from the Hague-based court following the launch of the investigation into his deadly drugs war.

However, the ICC’s top prosecutor has said it is investigating crimes carried out between 2016 and 2019 while the Philippines was still under its jurisdiction.

Marcos argued that the crimes should be prosecuted in the Philippines and his Justice Ministry has said it will carry out a fair investigation.

“We continue to defend the sovereignty of the Philippines and continue to question the jurisdiction of the ICC in their investigations here in the Philippines,” Marcos said.

Source: Qatar News Agency