Palace: Miriam Santiago's election to ICC ‘void’

The late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago's election as judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was "void" because the Philippines was never a member of The Hague-based tribunal, Malacañang said on Monday.

Santiago was elected judge of the ICC in 2011 but decided to give up the post in 2014 due to chronic fatigue syndrome. She died in September 2016 due to lung cancer.

"If the position is we’ve never been a state party, then logically, it is void, unless, the international court says it is not. Kasi that’s a legal issue eh. As far as we are concerned, they never assumed jurisdiction over us," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

On March 17, the Philippines effectively withdrew its membership from the ICC, making it the second state party to leave the tribunal after Burundi in 2017.

The Philippines' decision to leave the ICC came shortly after the ICC Office of the Prosecutor said in February last year that it would examine drug war-related allegations against Duterte to determine if it has jurisdiction to investigate.

Malacañang said the ICC had no jurisdiction since the Rome Statute--the treaty which created the ICC--is not enforceable in the Philippines as it was not published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

"Obviously, she [Santiago] never knew that there was a publication [requirement] on the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation. Had she known that, knowing her, I’m sure she would have raised that as an issue," Panelo said.

Santiago was replaced in the tribunal by former University of the Philippines College of Law dean Raul Pangalangan.

"We don’t have to pull out anybody if the position is we never was under the jurisdiction of the court, then it behooves whoever is there to do something for himself," Panelo said.

According to the ICC, the Philippines' withdrawal would not affect the status of former University of the Philippines College of Law dean Raul Pangalangan, who has been a judge in the ICC since 2015.

"The withdrawal would not affect the status of the judge from the Philippines as the Rome Statute only refers to a requirement of State Party nationality at the time of election but not afterwards," the court said in March last year.

Pangalanan's term in the ICC will end in March 2021. —LDF, GMA News