Former envoy to UN opposes ICC probe in PH

Former ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Maria Teresa Torres Almojuela on Tuesday aired her opposition to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation in the Philippines.

At a Commission on Appointments (CA) hearing, Almojuela was asked by Senator Jinggoy Estrada if it is right for the ICC to enter the Philippines to investigate.

“Hindi po. Personally at professionally because ang saklaw po ng ICC ay naja-justify lang kung mahina ang mga institutions ng isang bansa at kung walang mga proseso na nangyayari sa loob ng isang bansa para i-hear itong mga kaso na dinadala sa kanila,” Almojuela responded to Estrada’s query.

(No, it is not right, that's what I believe personally and professionally. The membership in the ICC is only justified if the institutions of a country are weak and if there are no processes in a state to hear the cases which were brought to the international tribunal.)

Asked if she agrees that the justice system in the country is working, the former Philippine deputy permanent representative to the UN answered in the affirmative.

The issue of ICC was raised at the hearing when Senator Imee Marcos questioned Almojuela’s statement that the Philippines “has achieved credibility [in the UN General Assembly] as a champion of rule of law and this includes primacy of legal bodies.”

“Why is the ICC then trying to assert itself in our territory if they recognize us as champions of the rule of law? If we are considered as champions of the rule of law, bakit pa sila manghihimasok dito (why are they interfering in our affairs)? Clearly, we're not,” Marcos, chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee, said.

“Bakit tayo kinakawawa, minamaliit at ibig pang pakialaman kung maliwanag naman na talaga namang umiiral ang batas dito sa atin at umaandar ang ating mga korte. Bakit ganoon? Bakit ganoon ang UN? Bakit ganoon ang ICC?...Hindi ko talaga maintindihan,” she added.

Almojuela faced the CA Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday as she sought the confirmation of her appointment as Chief of Mission Class I.

Almojuela and 48 other foreign service appointees’ promotions were eventually confirmed by the powerful Commission on Appointments.

ICC investigation

To recall, the ICC has been investigating the Philippine government’s war on drugs during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier said that his administration would not cooperate with the ICC’s inquiry into Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.

But after a resolution urging the Marcos administration to cooperate with the ICC probe was filed in the House of Representatives, the president said that returning under the fold of the international court is “under study.”

While there was an apparent change in the president’s stance on the ICC probe, Marcos pointed out that there are problems with regards to the international tribunal’s jurisdiction over the Philippines.

The ICC Appeals Chamber had denied the Philippine government’s appeal to stop the ICC probe on the drug war  because the Philippines failed to prove to the ICC that a legitimate investigation on the drug war killings and the prosecution of the perpetrators were being undertaken by Philippine authorities.

The ICC Prosecutor Pre-Trial chamber earlier observed, as regards to the drug war, that “the available material indicates, to the required standard, that a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2)(a) of the Statute.”

Statistics vary depending on sources but according to Human Rights Watch, Duterte’s “war on drugs” resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 Filipinos, mostly from the urban poor. Philippine authorities, meanwhile, maintain that there were only around 6,000 fatalities in the campaign against illegal drugs. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News