Aquino decision to ratify Rome statute welcomed

MANILA, Philippines - Asia-Pacific legislators welcomed the decision of President Aquino to ratify the Rome Statute, making the Philippines a State party to the treaty.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who represented the Senate in the recently held Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Consultation on the Universality of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Malaysia, expressed confidence that the Senate would give its concurrence to the ratification of the treaty.

Santiago was designated by Sen.Loren Legarda, chair of the committee on foreign relations, to head the Senate subcommittee on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.                                               

Santiago is in charge of holding public hearings on the Rome Statute as well as sponsoring and defending the treaty in the plenary.

 The Rome Statute establishes the International Criminal Court and seeks to punish crimes against humanity and to abolish the culture of impunity.

“The entry into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 1 July 2002 is by any measure a landmark event in criminal justice of the international community,” Santiago said in her speech during the conference in Malaysia.

During her term as chair of the Senate foreign relations committee from 2004 to 2010, Santiago pushed for the ratification of the treaty, which various Philippine presidents opposed because of American pressure for its rejection.

 Santiago noted that more than 40 countries have sided with the United States not to be a party to the Rome Statute or to associate with it.

She explained that the US stance is dictated by the American Service Members’ Protection Act (ASPA) which prohibits the US government from cooperating with the ICC.

TheASPA also contains a provision that “No United States military assistance may be provided to the government of a country that is a party to the International Criminal Court.”

 However, a country that is a party to the ICC may still receive US military aid if this requirement is waived by the US President.

 Santiago noted that the US, under the leadership of President Barack Obama, has announced a policy of “positive engagement” with the ICC, thus indicating that the US is adopting a new attitude of cooperation.

 There are now 110 State Parties to the Rome Statute but only 13 nations from Asia and the Pacific are in the list.