Pimentel: Senate should have more power over PH foreign policy
In light of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to withdraw the Philippines’ ratification of the Rome Statute, Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III raised the idea of giving the Senate more power to determine country’s foreign policies.
During the ongoing Senate hearing on Charter change proposals in Baguio City on Friday, Pimentel said the proposed shift to a federal form of government from the present presidential system could be done if the 1987 Constitution would be opened to a structural change.
“Since binubuksan na rin ang Konstitusyon tingnan na rin po natin yung ibang kakulungan sa Konstitusyon,” he said.
“Kahit yung withdrawal sa ICC, the Rome Statute, may participation ba ang Senate o wala? Under the present Constitution, wala. You can interpret it na wala.”
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), where Duterte and other officials have been charged with crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s deadly war on drugs.
“So why not open it up? Give the Senate more role in determining our foreign policy so that this is just not determined by one man,” Pimentel said, noting that the executive branch is led by one man, the Chief Executive.
On Wednesday, Duterte announced the withdrawal from ICC, citing what he said an apparent “concerted effort” between the United Nations special rapporteurs and the ICC special prosecutor to paint him as a “ruthless and heartless violator of human rights who allegedly caused thousands of extrajudicial killings.”
READ: Duterte does the inevitable, declares PH withdrawal from ICC
Pimentel immediately threw his support behind the country’s withdrawal from the ICC.
“Yeah, if I were President baka ginawa ko rin yun e. Kasi imagine sinong nagrereklamo? Tapos ano ‘yung mga alegasyon? Hindi ba ito domestic policy?” he earlier said in an interview at the Senate.
READ: Koko backs PH withdrawal from ICC, hits ‘non-sense’ case vs Duterte /muf
