Photo by NewsLine.ph The Supreme Court (SC) has set oral arguments on two consolidated petitions seeking to void the government’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The SC said the oral arguments will be held on August 7 at 2 p.m. at the SC’s New Session Hall.

The SC also required the counsels of both parties to attend the preliminary conference for the oral argument on July 31.

The Palace has maintained the withdrawal from the ICC was Mr. Duterte’s prerogative as President.

Mr. Duterte said he decided to withdraw from the international tribunal due to “baseless” accusations against him by United Nations (UN) officials and violations of due process by the ICC.

“The accusations of these UN officials have the effect of painting me guilty before the eyes of the world. There appears to be a concerted effort on those aforesaid UN officials to paint me as a ruthless and heartless violator of human rights,” Mr. Duterte added.

The first petition with the SC was filed by opposition Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes IV.

The senators filed a petition for certiorari and mandamus, saying that under Article VII Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution, “entering into treaty or international agreement requires participation of Congress, that is, through concurrence of at least 2/3 of all the members of the Senate.”

Last week, de Lima, one of the petitioners, asked the SC to allow her to participate in the oral arguments.

“This Honorable Court is respectfully asked to take judicial notice of its practice of permitting members of Congress to appear before it and argue their cases,” de Lima said in her four-page manifestation with motion.

The detained senator is the lead counsel for the minority senators.

The lawmakers also asked the High Court to compel the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations to notify the United Nations Secretary General that the Philippines is revoking the notice of withdrawal that it received last March 17.

The diplomatic note stated the “decision to withdraw is the Philippines’ principled stand against those who politicize and weaponize human rights, even as its independent and well-functioning organs and agencies continue to exercise jurisdiction over complaints, issues, problems and concerns arising from its efforts to protect the people.”

The petitioners said the Rome Statute is a treaty validly entered into by the Philippines that has the same status as a law enacted by Congress.

In withdrawing its membership from the ICC, the petitioners claimed that the respondents committed usurpation of legislative powers, which is punishable under the Revised Penal Code.