Pinoys in US: Miriam not fit to be judge of intl criminal court

(UPDATED 12:00 p.m.) - Describing her as emotionally and psychologically unstable, Filipinos in the United States have launched on online petition to urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reject the election of Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago as an ICC judge. On its petition, the US Pinoys for Good Governance said: "While, ironically, it should be a source of pride for Filipinos to have one of our own elected to your honorable court, we are embarrassed by the ill-considered nomination of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago."

 

The ICC is the international judicial body that prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

 

The online petition, created by San Francisco based Filipino lawyer Rodel Rodis, claims that the feisty senator does not deserve to be a judge. The petitioners said the ICC judges must not only have a mastery of international jurisprudence and forensic skills but must have:

 

GMA News Online is still trying to reach Santiago for comment as of posting time. A week after the petition was posted on March 6, around 844 people have signed, including Juana Change character actress Mae Paner who commented that "the whole world has to be spared of Miriam Defensor Santiago's lunacy!"

 

In the petition, Defensor-Santiago is described as emotionally or psychologically unstable, prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, lacking in patience and empathy, ruthless with the feelings of fellow human beings, bereft of civility and uncaring about decorum. The petition also noted that she has admitted to lying, and demonstrated partiality, prejudice, lack of principles and questionable integrity as a public official.

 

"We regret to inform you that such an undeserving individual has been elected to the International Criminal Court, in a lapse of good judgment on the part of the government of the Republic of the Philippines," reads the petition.

 

Defensor-Santiago was nominated to the ICC by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and won last December, garnering 79 votes in the first round of voting. She was scheduled to take her oath at The Hague, Netherlands on March 9, but the ICC granted Santiago leave to defer her oath-taking, as her hypertension and low blood count render her unfit to travel.

 

"We are bringing this matter to your attention for fear that you may construe her uncivilized behavior and her loose ethics as epitomizing the Filipino people...Far from representing the best of us, she typifies the worst. We fear that her presence in the International Criminal Court will make us the laughing stock of the world," the petition said.

 

"While it is entirely your prerogative to determine how to deal with Senator Defensor-Santiago, in light of these revelations, we respectfully submit that the onus will also be on your collective heads should she, as a judge of the International Criminal Court, display the kind of boorish and bizarre behavior that has been her trademark in the Philippine Senate and in other public fora," it added. Other complaints vs. Santiago The online petition against Santiago is also being shared on Facebook, with excerpts from a complaint filed by Efren G. Battad against Santiago.

 

The complaint, filed on January 7, 2010, accused Santiago of serious misconduct, violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829, and Canons of the Code of Professional Responsibility. Battad prayed that Santiago be disbarred and her name be removed from the Roll of Attorneys, but his complaint was dismissed due to lack of merit.  On Monday, another group filed a complaint against Santiago and asked her to issue a public apology for her recent outbursts against the prosecution team during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

In 2006, Antero J. Pobre also filed a complaint against Santiago, asking for disbarment proceedings or other disciplinary actions to be taken against the senator because of a speech she delivered on the Senate floor. In her speech, Santiago said: "I am not angry. I am irate. I am foaming in the mouth. I am homicidal. I am suicidal. I am humiliated, debased, degraded. And I am not only that, I feel like throwing up to be living my middle years in a country of this nature." "I am nauseated. I spit on the face of Chief Justice  Artemio Panganiban and his cohorts in the Supreme Court, I am no longer interested in the position [of Chief Justice] if I was to be surrounded by idiots. I would rather be in another environment but not in the Supreme Court of idiots," Santiago added. .

Santiago is known not only for her sharp language and brash manner but also for her sense of humor. 

 

Support for Santiago

Meanwhile, some 399 people have signed a petition to show support for Santiago.  

 

Quoting Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, the petitioners argued that Santiago is more than qualified for the position as ICC judge. "She has shown competence and commitment in defense of the rule of law. She has demonstrated her intelligence and legal acumen through her decisions that have been cited by the Philippine Supreme Court. She has shown independence and integrity in her actions," they said in their petition posted on March 9.

 

Teenage blogger Miko Wu also urged the US Pinoys for Good Governance to recant their petition. "Looking at her record, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is perhaps the epitome of good governance in the Philippines," wrote Wu in his dissection of the petition. - with Kimberly Jane Tan, VVP, GMA News