Atty. Joseph Philip Andres
Much has been written about the latest round of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) where the Philippines was “encouraged” by the member countries of the UNHRC to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla who led the Philippines’ “power house” delegation, looks at it from the point of view of necessity (is it really needed by the country) and beneficence (what good will it ultimately produce) to our country.
According to the Justice Secretary, aside from the aforementioned considerations of necessity and benefit, a return to the ICC may also be not as simple and easy as the other member countries may think. Such a return will require multi-sectoral consultations involving, among others, Congress (especially the Senate which will give their concurrence to any ratification by the Chief Executive) and even former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The Philippines ratified the Rome Statute which created the ICC on August 30, 2011 and such ratification took effect on November 1, 2011. The ICC investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
In 2019, however, then President Duterte ordered the country’s withdrawal following complaints filed before the ICC to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed over the killings of persons during his administration’s anti-illegal drugs war.
The former President’s decision to order the country’s pull-out from the ICC came as no surprise after some of the country’s top officials themselves became the subject of investigations on the logic that the numerous killings that accompanied the country’s war on drugs had the blessing of higher ups. Supporters of the “war on drugs,” however, reasoned that the investigations were a violation of the country’s sovereignty (being intrusive of our internal processes) since Philippine courts were ready, able and willing to try such cases.
Further proof of this ability to address the situation is the existing The Inter-Agency Committee On Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons, which was created under Administrative Order No. 35 series of 2012. It is the government’s institutional machinery dedicated to the resolution of unsolved cases of political violence in the form of extra-legal killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other grave violations of the right to life, liberty and security of persons.
Whatever direction the “consultations” may go, the fact is that the buck will stop with the President being the country’s chief architect on foreign policy. And whatever the outcome of the President’s decision will be, it should be based on his discernment of its best effect on the country. Not because he wants to please the international community or to avoid displeasing a formidable ally. Whether you are his supporter or not, let us all pray for wisdom for our President.
THE BARRISTER 