FOLLOWING President Rodrigo Duterte’s unilateral decision to pull out of the International Criminal Court, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said he is willing to work to give the Senate a say in determining the country’s foreign policies.
At present, he said, the Senate had no say in a decision to withdraw from treaties, even though it ratifies those agreements.
He said this should be one of the provisions changed if the Constitution is amended as planned.
At his opening statement during a Senate regional consultative hearing on Charter change in Baguio City, he said the current Constitution says nothing about the Senate’s participation in the withdrawal from treaties.
“So why not open it up? Give the Senate [a bigger] role in determining our foreign policy so that this is not determined by one man, because the executive branch is led by one man. We are open to that,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Duterte earlier announced the country’s withdrawal from the ICC due to “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration.
The Philippine government has already formally notified the United Nations of its decision.
Last year, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon filed a resolution stating that Senate had a say on the withdrawal from treaties. But Senator Manny Pacquiao, a Duterte ally, blocked it.
To address the issue, senators will introduce a paragraph in each treaty they concur to stating that the termination of or withdrawal from the pact will be valid and effective only upon the concurrence of the Senate.
Former senator Juan Ponce Enrile said the administration’s move to withdraw from the ICC leaves no Damocles’ sword over Duterte’s head.
“Why should we get bothered by the ICC? If they want to assume jurisdiction over the Philippines, all we have to do is withdraw from the ICC, just like America. They withdrew,” Enrile said.
Besides, he said, the ICC move to examine the drug war would be interference in the country’s domestic affairs, which is contrary to accepted international laws.
Enrile said he saw no sound basis for charging Duterte before the ICC because he is a democratically elected President.
“When he assumed office, he took an oath and he said he would preserve and defend the Constitution and execute its laws and do justice to every man,” he said.
“Are you going to challenge him for doing his job to enforce our laws? Who else will enforce our laws except the police and the military?” he asked
“What is in the national interest of the country, order or disorder? Peace or war? Progress or poverty? It’s always a question of choice. If your society is degraded, decaying, you cannot be a soft President. If you become afraid, it’s the end. You must be firm and you have to run the gauntlet, as they say,” the former Senate president said.
He insisted that any threat of prosecution by the ICC over the alleged killings of thousands of drug suspects should not worry the President.
“It’s just like insurgency, the effect of the drug menace is like the menace of rebellion or insurgency in the country. It destroys the fabric of society, especially the young people.”
“You have to cut off their [drug traffickers] source of supply and their financial resources. You have to use all the instruments of power to emasculate this menace,” he said.
“You cannot solve a drug problem in a country by prayers. If [drug users] want to be rehabilitated, rehabilitate them. If not, force them to be rehabilitated,” he said.
But detained Senator Leila de Lima said the withdrawal from the ICC is an act of fear and cowardice on the part of Duterte.
“His sad and unsuccessful attempt at avoiding a trial at the ICC at all costs betrays a deep fear,” said De Lima.
“What does that make of his guilt?” she said.
“His futile act of withdrawing the Philippines from the Rome Treaty is the equivalence of a guilty man fleeing from justice. President Duterte is already behaving like a fugitive from justice,” added De Lima, who is detained on drug charges.
THE Commission on Human Rights on Friday also assailed the withdrawal from the ICC.
Jacqueline Ann de Guia, CHR lawyer-spokesperson, said the government’s declaration to withdraw from the ICC constituted a step back in the Philippines’ commitment to “address impunity locally and elsewhere in the world.”
“The call for the Philippine government is to demonstrate good faith and cooperate in the processes of the ICC, including the current preliminary examination of allegations linked to the current administration’s campaign against illegal drugs. The rational thing for the government to do is to face the ICC squarely in the interest of respecting due process,” she said.
The European Union, which Duterte has lambasted for interference in domestic affairs, also issued a statement of concern “about the high number of killings associated with the campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines.”
“The EU emphasizes the importance of carrying out the campaign with a focus on public health and in full compliance with due process, national law and international human rights law,” the EU said. “It is imperative to conduct prompt, effective, impartial and transparent investigations of all cases of death leading to prosecution in all cases of unlawful killing.”