De Lima chosen as lead counsel in ICC withdrawal case

MANILA, Philippines — The minority bloc in the Senate has chosen Sen. Leila de Lima to argue its case before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the Duterte administration’s move to withdraw the country’s membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

It remains to be seen, however, if the high tribunal will allow her to temporarily leave detention.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, told reporters they have chosen De Lima to be their “lead counsel” in the petition they filed with the SC last May 16.

De Lima has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame since February 2017 on what she said were trumped up drug charges filed by the administration in retaliation for her questioning President Duterte’s deadly war on drugs. She is one of the signatories in the SC petition.

“She agreed to be the lead counsel in questioning the withdrawal of the executive department from the ICC. We just need the approval of the Supreme Court because she is in the custody of the courts because of her pending case,” Pangilinan told reporters.

He said De Lima is qualified for the task, being a former justice secretary, elections chief and head of the Commission on Human Rights.

“So she has all the necessary experience to be able to defend us and represent us in this petition,” he said.

In a 17-page petition, Pangilinan, De Lima, Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Risa Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes IV and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked the SC to invalidate the decision of the executive branch due to lack of necessary concurrence from the Senate.

The opposition senators want the SC to issue an order compelling the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations to revoke the notice sent last March for withdrawal of the Philippine government’s signature from the Rome Statute.

The senators alleged that Malacañang’s action violated the Constitution, which requires Senate ratification of treaties and international agreements.

They said Article VII Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution 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.”

They argued that the Office of the President and the DFA committed grave abuse of discretion when they withdrew the country’s membership in the ICC without the concurrence of the Senate.

Malacañang argued the petition has no basis.

Meanwhile, CHR chairman Chito Gascon is urging the Philippine government to proceed with its bid for re-election to the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) even after the United States decided to pull out of the 47-member body.

“As a result of the US withdrawal, it is possible that DFA policymakers will have to re-assess whether engaging inside the UN HRC is important and works for their strategic interests,” Gascon told The STAR yesterday.

“Personally, I would hope that they still would do so, as human rights are important in and of themselves as universal values despite whatever short-term strategic interests a government might have with regard to its foreign policy,” he added.

The Philippines, which currently sits as vice president of the HRC, will end its three-year term at the human rights body this year. It has the option to seek re-election.

The US, whose term is set to expire next year, announced that it would leave the council, citing what it called the latter’s political bias.

Gascon emphasized that all UN member-states, regardless of whether they are members of the UN HRC or not, are obliged to behave in accordance with the highest standards of human rights.

He said it would be difficult to speculate on the impact of the US decision but that this signals the retreat of the superpower from its leadership role in protecting and promoting human rights globally.