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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Euro HR solons to visit PH; Remulla pans ICC anew

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Members of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights will visit the Philippines this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

Six members of the EP subcommittee will meet their counterparts in Congress to exchange views on best practices and legislation during their stay from Feb. 22 to 24.

The visiting members of parliament will also have audiences with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomes this visit as it signifies the expanding dialogue and cooperation between the Philippines and the European Union,” the DFA said.

“The Philippines’ relationships with the European Union and its members have steadily expanded across political, economic, and security areas. These relationships are founded on mutual interest and shared values of democracy and freedom, rule of law, peace and stability, and human rights,” the department added.

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Meanwhile, Remulla on Monday said the Philippine government “will not bow down” to the political agenda behind the insistence of the International Criminal Court to investigate the drug war killings in the country.

“We will not bow down to that political agenda. Even though it is a court that tries crimes, the ICC is a political body in many ways,” he said.

“It is not just a body for justice, but it is meant to forward a

political agenda for many people. Why do I say this? Because we are a country with a legal system that can function by itself, and they want to take over some of our functions just to criticize the way we run our country before,” Remulla added.

The Justice Secretary also said he sees nothing wrong with the resolution filed by House Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who sought to defend from the ICC former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been accused of ordering the killings in the drug war.

Remulla insisted the ICC has “no mechanism by which they can operate in our country.”

“If they want to put into themselves the judicial powers of this country then they will be committing a violation of our legal system. Just a fair warning: do not monkey around with our legal system,” he said.

In January, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber granted the request of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to resume the investigation of the drug war killings in the Philippines.

The Philippines has been a state party of the Rome Statute that created the ICC since Nov. 1, 2011.

But the Philippine government, in 2018, filed a written notification to the ICC that declared the country’s withdrawal from the Statute.

The Philippines’ withdrawal from the Statute took effect on March 17, 2019.

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