MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago may succeed in her bid for a seat in the International Court of Justice if member countries make good on their commitment to vote for her, a top foreign affairs official said.

“She has a good chance based on the verbal commitments,” said the official who refused to be named for lack of authority to speak.

Santiago is vying for one of five ICJ seats, to be vacated by February 2009, the election for which has been set for Nov. 6 at United Nations headquarters in New York City.

The source said Santiago’s strongest rival for an Asian seat in the court is the incumbent from Jordan who is seeking reelection. The Jordan representative is a vice president in the ICJ.

The 15-member ICJ, known colloquially as the World Court, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations and is based in The Hague, the Netherlands. It decides legal disputes between states and issues advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by UN agencies.

Santiago, an international and constitutional law expert, was at one time a legal officer in the United Nations in Geneva. She is also the author of numerous law books.

The Philippines is making a bid for an ICJ seat for the first time in 40 years. The last Filipino to sit in the World Court was Chief Justice Cesar Bengzon, who served from 1967 to 1976.

President Macapagal-Arroyo nominated Santiago to the ICJ on July 30, 2007, for one of three Asian seats to be vacated by Jordan next year.

Membership in the ICJ is distributed among the principal global regions. These are Africa with three representatives; Latin America, two; Asia, three; Western Europe, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, five; and Eastern Europe, including Russia, two. Cynthia D. Balana