DFA no longer a go-between for Senate and ICC
Department of Foreign Affairs (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will no longer serve as a liaison for the Philippine Senate in its communications with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Senator Francis Tolentino revealed this Wednesday as the scheduled hearing of the Senate committee on justice and human rights was canceled after the panel received a letter from the DFA saying “they can no longer facilitate the sending of the letters to the ICC.”
“Because they are now considering the disengagement. They are respecting the disengagement instruction from the President. So iyong letter ng DFA, hindi sila magpapadala ng tulong para makuha iyong mga testigo sa ICC. Iyon ang reason kaya na-postpone,” Tolentino told reporters at the Senate.
(Because they are now considering the disengagement, they are respecting the disengagement instruction from the President. So the DFA’s letter said they would no longer offer help to invite the witnesses from the ICC. That’s the reason why it was postponed.)
In the letter sent to Tolentino’s office, the DFA said it “cannot facilitate the sending of the invitations to persons associated with the ICC due mainly to the pronouncement made on 28 March 2023 by the President about ‘disengaging’ from the ICC.”
Article continues after this advertisementMarcos, who had been firm about not cooperating with the ICC’s “drug war” probe, had said that the Philippines is “disengaging from any contact, from any communication with the ICC.”
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Marcos: PH ‘essentially disengaging’ from ICC after ‘failed’ appeal to defer ‘drug war’ probe
“In view of the foregoing, the DFA respectfully recommends that the Senate Committee sends the invitations directly to the intended invitees, Karim Khan A.A. KC and Fatou Bomm Bensouda,” DFA said.
Khan is leading the full-blown ICC investigation of alleged crimes against humanity committed under the Duterte administration’s drug war, as well as killings by the so-called Davao Death Squad when Rodrigo Duterte was mayor of Davao City.
Khan picked up the ICC probe after Bensouda retired from the Hague-based tribunal in June 2021.
READ: ICC resumes full-blown probe of Duterte drug war
The DFA noted, however, that it had sent the two other invitations to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the Hague Academy of International Law.
The supposed agenda of the Tolentino-led committee hearing were Senate Resolutions Nos. 488 and 499, urging the upper chamber to come to the defense of former President Duterte against investigation and prosecution before the ICC.
The resolutions were filed by Duterte-allied Senators Robin Padilla and Jinggoy Estrada.
READ: Duterte allies in Senate back bid to block ICC probe
Earlier, Tolentino disclosed his plan to have Duterte and ICC representatives in the committee hearing even via videoconferencing.
DFA Letter
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