BUMPS (24)

HALAW sa aking pangalawang aklat “BUMPS: Fifty Years of Dictatorship and Democracy in the Philippines (1972-2022).” Bahagi ng pangsampung tsapter kung saan nagbigay kami ng update sa madugo ngunit bigo digmaan kontra droga ni Gongdi. Itinuring naming na isang lubak sa lansangan ng demokrasya ang war on drugs. Pakibasa:

FORMAL PROBE

WHEN the ICC Pretrial Chamber rejected on Jan. 24, 2023 the appeal to delay or stop the ICC formal investigation of the crimes against humanity charges against Duterte and his ilk, the two chambers of Congress separately called for a similar rejection of the formal probe. Three weeks after the ICC rejection of the appeal, an initiative started at the House of Representatives when Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a former president, led a group of 19 lawmakers in the Feb. 16 resolution asking the chamber to support Rodrigo Duterte, who was facing an ICC probe over his bloody drug war.

Her resolution dated Feb. 16 said: “Be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved, that the House of Representatives declares unequivocal defense of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines, in any investigation and/or prosecution by the ICC.”

Not to be outdone, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada submitted on Feb. 23, 2023 the Senate Resolution 492, expressing the same objections, thoughts, and resolve as the House resolution’s. The two resolutions said the ICC “lacked” jurisdiction over the Philippines, citing the 2019 withdrawal from the Rome Statute, a move initiated unilaterally by Duterte without consultations with lawmakers and other political leaders. The two resolutions neither gained support nor traction in the two congressional chambers. They were not adopted and died naturally.

These were not all. Duterte’s political allies launched their own media campaign to make it appear that Duterte and his cohorts did not have responsibility because the Philippines has withdrawn its membership in the Rome Statute. Ronaldo dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino, Christopher Lawrence Go, and Robin Padilla issued separate statements containing simplistic statements that since the Philippines has withdrawn unilaterally from the Rome Statute, Duterte and cohorts are no longer responsible on those EJKs.

They obviously did not read the provisions of the Rome Statute. Neither have they read the Supreme Court decision. On the contrary, they are still responsible for Duterte’s state-sponsored terrorism. The following pertinent provision of the Rome Statute makes sense:

Article 127 Withdrawal 1. A State Party may, by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, withdraw from this Statute. The withdrawal shall take effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification, unless the notification specifies a later date. 2. A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Statute while it was a Party to the Statute, including any financial obligations which may have accrued. Its withdrawal shall not affect any cooperation with the Court in connection with criminal investigations and proceedings in relation to which the withdrawing State had a duty to cooperate and which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.

Changes occurred when the ICC Appeals Chamber, which serves as the chamber of last resort, or sort of a Supreme Court in the ICC, rejected on July 18, 2023 the second appeal the Philippine government lodged to delay the formal probe on the charges against Duterte and his cohorts. It appears to be the final decision on the issue.

The Philippine Government did not risk to become the laughing stock in the world community by lodging a third appeal. It did not lodge a third appeal, as Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the Philippines would stop communicating with the ICC. It was simply his way to end the issue with the ICC. It was Duterte and his cohorts, who had a hard time understanding his statement.

CLOSE CALL. It was a close decision, 3-2, by the Appeals Chamber. But how the decision would appear in its final form does not matter anymore because in the end, the Philippine Government has lost all efforts to stop the formal investigation. Quietly, the ICC, as reported without fanfare or any official confirmation, went into its business of formal probe of Duterte and his cohorts’ involvement in the bloody but failed war on drugs. His subalterns, mostly lawmakers who hardly have any stature and credibility in Congress, continued to make noises, but they were hardly successful. Neither did they create any traction in the public mind.

The first change appeared when House Resolution 1393 has materialized. It asked the Marcos administration to cooperate with the ICC in its probe on the alleged crimes against humanity against Duterte and ilk on the ill-fated war on drugs. The lawmakers filed other resolutions on Nov. 21, 2023 seeking to allow the ICC entry into the country. On Nov. 23 , they were read on first reading and referred to the House committee on rules, after which tthey were sent to the justice committee.

A week later, two House committees approved and consolidated resolutions that encouraged the President to allow the Philippines to cooperate in the ICC’s probe into Duterte’s war on drugs. Through a voice vote, officials and members of the joint committee on justice and human rights adopted House Resolution 1477 of Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and 1-Rider Party List Rep. Ramon Gutierrez and consolidated House Resolution 1482 of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

The Senate took an indifferent stance. It neither approved nor opposed the formal investigation on Duterte and his cohorts by the ICC, but watched nonchalantly the dynamics at the House. There is no way to look at it, but conclude that it was leaving everything on the other chamber on this ticklish issue. What it had were the four or five senators, who kept talking on the issue without understanding its complexity because they neither read nor understood the nuance of the Supreme Court decision and other pertinent literature on the issue. Or they twisted their meaning to promote the perverted interpretation of the Duterte camp. (Itutuloy)

***

KAWAWA si Bato dela Rosa dahil hindi niya alam na may nangyaring imbestigasyon ang ICC kaugnay sa sakdal na crimes against humanity na isinampa laban kay Gongdi at sa kanya. Hindi kailangan magpaalam ang ICC sa kanya. Gumulong ang proseso ng formal investigation ng ICC laban sa pangkat ni Gongdi.

Pilit pinag-aaway ni Bato ang DoJ at Sonny Trillanes. Pinabulaanan ng DoJ na may naganap na imbestigasyon ang ICC dito. Baligtad ito sa sinabi ni Trillanes. Hindi alam ni Bato na hindi pinagkatiwalaan ng ICC ang DoJ. Hindi katiwa-tiwala si Boying Remulla dahil alam ng ICC na kakampi siya ni Gongdi. Wala alam si Boying sa galaw ng ICC dito.

Dahil ang grupo ni Trillanes ang unang nagsampa ng sakdal laban kay Gongdi sa ICC, mayroon “heads-up” ang ICC sa kanila. Binibigyan sila ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga galaw na ICC. Hindi kami nagtataka kung bakit alam ni Trillanes ang pagsulong ng proseso laban kay Gongdi.