Talk on ICC probe vs. Duterte's drug war 'constructive, fruitful’ — Tolentino, Neumann

Philippine senators and visiting European Parliament members had a "constructive and fruitful" discussion on various human rights issues, especially the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

Senator Francis Tolentino and Hannah Neumann, the head of the European Parliament delegation, shared this in a press conference Wednesday after a dialogue between the members of the Senate justice and human rights committee and the European Parliament members.

"As you are all aware, the EU has been quite worried about the war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings happening in the past. We were discussing this and we are also very relieved to hear that right now the Philippines is working more towards rehabilitation and prevention," Neumann said.

"We have also discussed other issues of human rights and I think it has been a fruitful and constructive meeting that makes me believe that we are moving towards a more constructive engagement for the future," she added.

During the closed meeting, Tolentino said they were able to maintain that ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and explain the country's side on the issue of EJK as well as the resolutions defending Duterte from ICC prosecution.

"Naipaliwanag na natin 'yung position natin sa ICC na hinihingi natin 'yung kanilang respeto sa ginagawa ng ating bansa at pamunuan bilang isang sovereign state. So hindi tayo kabilang sa ICC. Ginagalang nila iyon. Nagkaroon man ng dialogue na hindi man mainitan ay naipaliwanag natin 'yung ating posisyon," Tolentino said.

(We were able to explain to them our position on the ICC and we asked them to respect what the country and the administration is doing as a sovereign state. We are not part of the ICC. They respect that. We had a dialogue, though not heated, and we explained to them our position.)

Despite the dialogue, Neumann said the EU maintains its support to the ICC investigation against the drug war.

"I think the position, especially of the European Parliament, has been quite clear that we are deeply concerned about the extrajudicial killings happening on the war on drugs. We see right now prosecutions starting, but being rather slow with at least 6,000 people killed in the war on drugs, only 20 cases filed and three people convicted," Neumann said.

"We, as the European Union, are members of the Rome Statute. We support the ICC and we see this as a potential to support the investigations into the killings. We clearly understand that at least the senators we have met right now see this differently. Well, this is exactly part of the discussions we are having amongst each other. But they are constructive and fruitful, that’s how I would describe it," she added.

At a Senate hearing, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa claimed that the dialogue with the EU parliament members escalated as they are "imposing their standards" to the Philippines.

"I just attended the meeting with the members of the EU and the discussion was so intense that I cannot leave, I have to defend our sovereignty so you these Europeans they are trying to…impose their standards upon us," said Dela Rosa, who was the Philippine National Police chief when the drug war was implemented.

He said the parliament member from Spain was angry about the resolution filed by Senator Jinggoy  Estrada protecting Duterte from the ICC investigation.

"Nag-react siya, medyo tumaas 'yung boses niya, sinagot ko naman siya (He reacted, he raised his voice, I countered him). I told them, you know my good friend, honorable Spaniard, you know, the Philippines was conquered, enslaved by the Spaniards of more than three centuries, for over 300 years and now that we have our freedom, we have our own sovereignty as a nation, we hope that other countries would respect our sovereignty as a nation," he said.

But Tolentino denied that the dialogue got intense, explaining that the EU parliament member had to speak loudly because he needed an interpreter.

"'Yung taga-Spain may interpreter kailangan talagang magtaas ng boses yon kasi di marunong mag-Ingles...Wala namang taasan ng boses doon, I have to correct that," he said.

(The one from Spain has an interpreter so he has to speak louder. No one raised their voice, I have to correct that.)

In a separate press conference, Dela Rosa questioned the Spain representative’s credibility to talk about human rights.

“Human rights violations were committed by your people for 300 years. Ngayon, you are going to lecture us about human rights? How dare you? 'Di ba?” he said.

Tolentino likewise said that the EU Parliament members did not ask to reconsider the Philippine position on ICC.

Apart from the ICC investigation and the issue on drug war, Tolentino said they were able to tackle the concerns on the West Philippine Sea and the human trafficking cases of Filipinos in Europe.

Nuemann was joined by Miguel Urban Crespo, Karsten Lucke,Luc Veron, Isabel Wiseler-Lima, and Ryszard Czarnecki.

Neumann said the EU Parliament members are set to visit former Senator Leila de Lima at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros had a separate meeting with the EU Parliament members after the dialogue with the Senate justice and human rights panel.

She said the European parliament initiated the separate meeting with her.

According to Hontiveros, they resumed the discussions on impunity, extra-judicial killings, freedom of the press, disinformation, and the ICC probe.

“Di naman nila sinabing ayaw nila 'yang ganyang resolusyon na nagtatanggol kay dating Pangulong Duterte sa ICC investigation. Tinanong lang nila kung ano 'yung tingin ko doon,” Hontiveros said in a press conference. “Diplomatiko po kasi sila, mga mambabatas din sa ibang bansa.”

In a statement, Hontiveros said she mentioned to the European Parliament subcommittee on human rights that the ICC investigation on the war on drugs will help the country “exhaust all means” to give justice to the victims of the Duterte administration.

“The international action can only help, not harm our own domestic efforts on the extrajudicial killings (EJKs). If we were to say that we alone could take care of our own cases, take into account the more than 11,000 victims survivors of Martial Law dictatorship human rights abuses who only received a small, symbolic stipend. It has been over 20 years, and yet the task of giving them justice remains unfinished. 6,000 cases of EJKs ang nakasalang sa ICC, bakit hindi natin hayaan magpatuloy ang paggulong ng hustisya? The thousands of murders are incontestable. Politics aside, what do we plan on doing about these murders?” she said.

“We are waiting for the ICC process to ripen. The work against impunity is so large, it is clear that we need all the assistance we can get. It is important we remain transparent about the realities of our human rights situation here,” she stressed.

Further, Hontiveros said that EJKs have not stopped under the current administration, adding that the present administration has “not taken definitive steps to exact justice for the victims of the bloody policies enacted under the war on drugs.”

“Drug-related killings have not stopped. This is why international solidarity is welcome and necessary. We must exhaust all means and avenues, including the ICC to seek justice for victims of human rights violations. There is media and public exhaustion on EJKs, but drug-related killings continue on the ground,” she said.

“I am not aware of any actions that the current government has taken to give justice to more victims of EJKs. The convictions won by Kian de los Santos and a few others were through the efforts of the families with civil society supporters,” she added.

Hontiveros said she brought up the case of Kian delos Santos during the meeting, emphasizing that the latter’s story "mirrors the realities of our human rights situation here. The conviction of perpetrators, especially state agents, in the case of Kian delo Santos’ murder, are a few signs of hope. But they are very few. The slow crawl to justice proves that the perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity.”

“Attacks on human rights and press freedom, and the massive proliferation of disinformation are not unique to the Philippines. These are shared problems we face. It is our shared responsibility to protect freedom of speech and expression as essential to democracy, and our countries need to work together to battle the challenges of our times,” she said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News