‘MAY SC RULING NA OBLIGADO ANG PINAS SA ICC’: SUE FPRRD IN LOCAL COURTS, CRITICS DARED

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Having returned to being a regular citizen of the land, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte can now be sued before the local courts.

This was aired by political strategist Malou Tiquia despite an earlier Supreme Court ruling that the government remains obliged to cooperate in criminal proceedings of the International Criminal Court even if it has withdrawn from the Rome Statute – the treaty that formed the ICC.

“When you say pinag-aaralan natin and then you raise the issue of sovereignty, parang it negates. You cannot invoke sovereignty and at the same time say pag-aaralan natin yan, pero natutuwa ako at sumagot siya,” Tiquia said in a recent “Politiskoop” interview.

She was reacting to the seemingly ever-changing position of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. regarding the Philippines’ possibly rejoining the ICC.

Believing that there is no failure within the judicial system, Tiquia also questioned the necessity of the House hearing on the proposed resolution as the country is no longer a member of the ICC.

However, it can be recalled that on 21 July 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the government remains obliged to cooperate in criminal proceedings of the International Criminal Court even if it has withdrawn from the Rome Statute – the treaty that formed the ICC.

“Should we return under the fold of the ICC? So that is again under study. So we’ll just keep looking at it and see what our options are,” the President told reporters on Friday, November 24.

He added that the House resolutions were “not unusual.”

“They (lawmakers) are just expressing or manifesting the sense of the House that perhaps it is time to allow or to cooperate with the ICC investigations,” Marcos Jr. said.

On Tuesday, November 20, pro-administration National Unity Party (NUP) Manila Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. filed a resolution urging the Marcos Jr. administration to coordinate with the ICC probe.

Last October, a similar resolution was filed by Makabayan bloc lawmakers France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list, and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan party-list.

(AI/MNM)