SC resets oral arguments on petition vs ICC withdrawal

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has reset anew its arguments on petitions of opposition senators challenging the Duterte administration’s withdrawal of the country’s membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The oral argument, which is supposed to be held today, is rescheduled on Aug. 28, the SC announced in an advisory yesterday.

The high court’s public information office said the parties have been informed of the change in schedule, although the official resolution will be approved and released today.?The SC made the move upon request of six opposition senators who filed the petition after the Court denied their plea to have detained Sen. Leila de Lima to be temporarily released from detention to argue the case for them.?The minority senators argued that they “do not have a representative for the oral arguments on 14 August 2018 whom they deem able to fully articulate their position.”

De Lima was joined by Sens. Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Paolo Benigno Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV and Risa Hontiveros in filing the petition.?This is the third time the SC has rescheduled the oral argument on the ICC petition. It has moved the oral arguments twice – from July 24 to Aug. 7 and then to Aug. 14 – to give parties more time to prepare. In their petition filed last May, the opposition senators sought issuance of an order compelling the government to revoke the notice sent last March for withdrawal of the Philippine government’s signature from the Rome Statute.

They argued that such withdrawal from the ICC violated the Constitution, which requires ratification of treaties and international agreements by the Senate.

The senators cited Article VII Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “entering into treaty or international agreement requires participation of Congress, that is, through concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.”

A similar petition filed by the Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court led by former Commission on Human Right chair Loretta Rosales was consolidated with the case.