Gov’t on right path in reassessing ICC return—De Lima

Former senator Leila de Lima believes that the Marcos administration is in the “right path” as it studies the possibility of rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is currently investigating the previous Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs campaign.
Former senator Leila de Lima answers questions from Dean Mel Sta. Maria during a podcast interview on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (Screenshot from Dean Sta.Maria’s Facebook page)

De Lima, who is also a former justice secretary and human rights commissioner, said she “supports” the current administration’s stand on ICC.

“The direction that the current government is pursuing is the right path, it is correct and it has my support. I’m talking talking about the reassessment of their position in regard to ICC,” she told Dean Mel Sta. Maria in a podcast interview on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The former senator, who is now spokesperson of the Liberal Party, who was released recently on bail pending the dismissal of her third drug charge, hopes that Marcos is receiving the right advice when it comes to rejoining the ICC.

“Sana iyan ang magiging resulta ng pag-aaral na ‘yan, ang pinapa-review ng ating Pangulo (I hope that would be the result of the study, the review asked by our President),” De Lima, who was in detention for almost seven years for what her camp claimed were trumped-up drug charges by the Duterte administration, said.

“Sana iyong mga advisers niya kung sinuman po sila ay bigyan ng tamang advice ang ating Pangulo (I hope his advisers could give the President the right advice),” she added.

The Philippines, she stressed, must rejoin the ICC because it is “the right thing to do.”

She appealed for the Marcos administration to cooperate with the ICC probers to achieve justice for the thousands of deaths under the name of the Duterte government’s drug war.

De Lima also explained that the withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which took effect in 2019, was “wholly inconsistent” because the “motive” for the withdrawal was to escape accountability, and it was also done without the Senate’s concurrence.

De Lima was referring to former president Rodrigo Duterte, who orchestrated the bloody drug war that’s now being investigated for crimes against humanity by the ICC and who was also responsible for the withdrawal from the Rome Statute after a case was filed against him.

“Wholly inconsistent with our human rights record, with our record in so far as a human rights community is concerned. Active na active doon pa lang sa paggawa ng Rome Statute tapos ngayon ayaw na natin (We were so active in crafting the Rome Statute then now we don’t want it),” she lamented.

Marcos, despite his ties with the Dutertes, said recently that rejoining ICC should be studied, a far-cry from his earlier statements that his government will no longer engage with the body.

His recent remark was welcomed resoundingly by even his biggest critics, and provides a peek into the deepening crack in his relationship with Vice President Sara Duterte, who stated her opposition to the ICC investigation. — Raymund Antonio