Senate resolution on Du30 unlikely to influence ICC
Lawyers of the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte agreed on Thursday that the Senate resolution seeking house arrest for the former leader actually has “no bearing” on a pending request for his temporary release and may even work against his favor in the end.
“This is really for domestic political purposes … because the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not consider all of these political statements,” lawyer Gilbert Andres said in a vlog of human rights advocate Carlos Conde.
“A house arrest is not even contemplated in the ICC Rome Statute. You won’t find it in the (articles in the Rome Statute) and it is also not in the [ICC] Rules of Procedure and Evidence,” said Andres, Center for International Law executive director.
The lawyer said that “house arrest” is just a concept in Philippine politics, saying that it is meant to give “special treatment to politicians” and may belie claims that Duterte has “failing cognitive abilities” because he still has the acumen to muster a deliberative body’s majority from more than 10,000 kilometers away.
For lawyer Kristina Conti of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, it still shows political power even if it is also seen as “self-serving,” particularly to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who has been named as a potential coperpetrator of Duterte in a preconfirmation brief.
With 15 in favor, 3 opposed and two abstaining, the Senate on Wednesday adopted Senate Resolution No. 144 asking the ICC to place Duterte under house arrest.
The others voting in favor were Dela Rosa, Robinhood Padilla, Rodante Marcoleta, Jinggoy Estrada, Christopher Go, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Loren Legarda, Erwin Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Panfilo Lacson and Mark Villar.
Opposing the resolution were Senators Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino and Francis Pangilinan, while Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Raffy Tulfo abstained from voting.
For Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, the Senate resolution only proved that the upper chamber is “packed with Duterte lackeys and apologists,” with no less than Dela Rosa leading the pack. “This is a Senate bereft of integrity,” she said.
Conti noted that the Senate “is not in any way involved in the ICC process” and the Senate resolution undermined the independence of the international tribunal and bolsters the assertions of both the prosecutors and the victims that Duterte and his family members still wield “significant political clout.”
