THE Office of the Solicitor General is amenable to reconsidering its position on the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the Philippines.
Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe acknowledged in an interview with ABS CBN that her predecessor, Menardo Guevarra, was just “trying to come up with a consistent position.”
Berberabe surmised that there were some political considerations or appearances “that mattered at a certain point in time.”
Shortly after the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte last March 11, his lawyers hied to the Supreme Court (SC) to question the legality of the arrest, arguing that the ICC already had no jurisdiction over the Philippines, having withdrawn membership in 2019.
As the chief legal counsel of the government, many thought the OSG would have naturally sided with the government and moved to shield the Marcos administration from legal challenges.
But in a surprise move, the OSG under Guevarra, who had also served as the justice secretary of Duterte, declined to represent the government in the petitions before the SC.
Guevarra asserted in a motion that the ICC was “barred from exercising jurisdiction over the Philippines, adding that the OSG might not be able to “effectively represent the respondents in these cases and is constrained to recuse itself from participating herein.”
Asked whether rejoining the ICC would “muddle” the case of the former president, Berberabe quipped “Maybe not.”
The solicitor general explained that “there has already been a decision by the ICC that they have jurisdiction,” noting that the case could just proceed.
The unresolved issue of Duterte before the SC would not be an “impediment,” Berberabe said. “But I think that the consideration would be what will be the policy of this government with regard to the human rights protection and respect for international law,” she added.
“I am mindful that we defend the actions and the decisions of the republic and now represented by the President,” she said.
In a document dated July 4, the prosecution panel noted that it had disclosed to the defense panel 1,253 items on the first of July.
The filing divided the new set of evidence into 10 packages, including the Davao Death Squad when he was mayor of Davao City, the barangay clearance operations and the high-value target during his watch as President,
The pre-trial chamber earlier set a July 1 deadline for prosecutors to disclose all evidence related to the confirmation of the trial. Duterte is currently detained at The Hague in the Netherlands to face crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs. He is awaiting his confirmation of charges hearing in September.
Meanwhile, Malacañang brushed off attempts by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team to submit a Senate report to the ICC, calling it a diversion from the real issues at hand and cited the former leader’s own admissions about extrajudicial killings during his term.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro criticized Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman for trying to use the Senate foreign relations committee report, which claims the former president’s arrest was the product of a “whole-of-government approach” and political maneuvering.
Castro, also a lawyer, said the defense’s argument lacked merit and failed to address the central issues raised by the ICC.
“For the fees he has allegedly been demanding from his client, former President Rodrigo Duterte, he should do better than that,” Castro said in a press briefing.
“He should concentrate on the allegations and admissions of the former President that he ordered the killings of some people in relation to the war on drugs. He even admitted he would double the EJK killings if elected mayor again,” she added.
Castro also underscored that the ICC case was initiated in 2017, during Duterte’s administration, and long before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office.
“President Marcos was not yet around then,” Castro said, suggesting Duterte’s defense team was misplacing blame.
“He should do more thorough research on the facts so he doesn’t get lost,” she added.
