Dean Raul Pangalangan. FILE PHOTO/ROMY HOMILLADA
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has lauded the election of former University of the Philippines’ College of Law Dean and Philippine Daily Inquirer publisher Dr. Raul Pangalangan to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“This is the most welcome development. It augurs well for the future: Filipino achievement and leadership in the field of law is being recognized by the international community. I wish nothing but success for Dr. Raul C. Pangalangan’s six-year term as Judge of the International Criminal Court,” Sereno, a former colleague of Pangalangan, said Thursday.
READ: Inquirer publisher Raul Pangalangan elected ICC judge
On the other hand, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, also a former UP College of Law Dean said Dr. Pangalangan is deserving for such a position.
“He will do us proud. He will continue to show the world the quality of our magistrates and lawyers,” Leonen said.
Leonen said Dr. Pangalangan follows in the footsteps of former Chief Justice Cesar Bengzon and Associate Justice Florentino Feliciano.
Bengzon was the first Filipino elected Judge in the International Court of Justice upon his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1966. Justice Feliciano, on the other hand, served as chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization from 2000 to 2001 and as arbitrator and counsel in various international commercial and investment arbitration disputes in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Stockholm Arbitration Institute, the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), and the Arbitration Tribunal under Article XV of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Pangalangan, will fill up the seat vacated by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. She resigned from the ICC in June 2014 due to health reasons. Pangalangan will serve his term until 2021.
READ: Santiago steps down as ICC judge