Lawmakers fear worse EJKs, rights violations with PHL exit from ICC

Lawmakers have expressed fears extrajudicial killings and human rights violations would worsen with the formal withdrawal of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court effective on Sunday.

In a statement, Senator Risa Hontiveros said the Philippines' exit from the ICC does not defend the country's sovereignty but the culture of killing and impunity, adding that it is President Rodrigo Duterte's "desperate" plan to escape international public accountability for the crimes he is accused of.

"Hindi ito pagtataguyod ng ating soberanya. Ito ay pagtatanggol sa isang tiranya," Hontiveros said.

In March last year, Duterte announced that the Philippines was withdrawing from ICC, shortly after the court's Office of the Prosecutor set a preliminary investigation on the complaint filed against him over allegations of state-sanctioned killings in his war on drugs.

Hontiveros said that while the withdrawal is a step back from the country's commitment to international treaty obligations on human rights, it does not have an effect on the ICC's examination on complaint filed against Duterte.

"He can still be held liable for offenses committed while the Philippines was a signatory to the ICC. It will not discharge our country of its obligations while it was still a party to the said agreement," Hontiveros said.

"It will also not disable our country's cooperation with the ICC conducting criminal investigations which were initiated before the said withdrawal," she added.

Detained Senator Leila De Lima echoed Hontiveros' statement, saying that the President should face the complaint against him instead of "hiding under the skirt of his men."

“Mr. President, ikaw na ngayon ang nanlalaban sa harap ng mga awtoridad ng hustisya. Gusto mo lamang isahan ang taumbayan at ang mundo. Gagamitin mo pa ang kapangyarihan ng opisina mo para manlaban sa katotohanan at hustisya," De Lima, a staunch Duterte critic, said.

“Gagawa-gawa ka ng kasalanan, tapos ngayong panahon na para managot ay tatakbo ka lang pala?  Mahiya ka naman at ang mga tauhan mo,” she added.

Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano, for his part, expressed concern over the domestic and international implications of the country's withdrawal from the international court.

"From a domestic point of view, the withdrawal from the ICC will embolden our leaders to commit further human rights violations," Alejano said.

"From an international perspective, [the] President’s idea to withdraw signifies an act that goes against universal values other countries have adopted and fostered. Moreover, his act will restrict our country from receiving any foreign aid which requires as a condition the preservation and protection of human rights," he added.

As the ICC continues to have jurisdiction to investigate cases committed before the country withdraws from it, Alejano assured enablers of extra-judicial killings that they will "pay the price in full."

"They will not be spared from the clutches of justice once the war on drugs, which have claimed thousands of Filipino lives, is proven to be a crime against humanity," he said.

"You can withdraw but you cannot hide," he added.

For representatives of the Gabriela Women's Party, the withdrawal of the country from the ICC will have dire effects not only to those victimized by the war on drugs but also in other sectors of the society, including women and progressive groups.

Gabriela Women's Party Representative Arlene Brosas said with ICC withdrawal, the war on drugs may worsen and more police officers will coerce sexual favors from women in exchange for freedom of arrested drug suspects.

Fellow Gabriela lawmaker Emmi De Jesus, meanwhile, said the move will also intensify the crackdown and red-tagging of democratic organizations and individuals opposing Duterte's policies.

No substantial effect

Senator Richard Gordon, however, believes otherwise, saying that the ICC withdrawal has no substantial effect on the Philippines.

Kung tatanungin mo ako, ayokong mag-member diyan. As a sovereign country, we have the Revised Penal Code, meron tayong special laws," Gordon said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview on Sunday.

"[Kung] idadagdag mo pa yan (ICC), e talagang makikitang para kang timawang bansa," he added. —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News