Lawmakers on Monday filed separate House resolutions urging the Philippine government to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Akbayan party-list Reps. Perci Cendaña, Chel Diokno, and Dadah Kiram Ismula, along with Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, filed House Resolution 811, urging the re-accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The filing coincides with the start of the ICC’s confirmation of charges hearing for former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Cendaña said returning to the ICC would be an act of solidarity with all the victims of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration: “We need to show that, unlike the previous administration, we support the victims of Digong’s fake war on drugs.”
He also said a return to the ICC would be a huge deterrent to future human rights abuses:
“We cannot allow the return to a tokhang presidency that will belittle human rights, murder children, torture, and dehumanize our people,” Cendaña said.
For its part, the Makabayan Bloc filed House Resolution 809, likewise urging the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to rejoin the ICC.
The bloc, composed of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, stated in the resolution that “reengagement with the ICC would strengthen the country’s global reputation as a rights-respecting democracy, restore international confidence in the Philippines’ legal system, and bolster partnerships rooted in justice, good governance, and the rule of law.”
“The House of Representatives, as the duly elected, constitutional voice of the Filipino people, is duty-bound to champion justice and transparency and human rights protection,” the Makabayan lawmakers said.
