Dela Rosa thinks Senate will not allow Phl to rejoin ICC

Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said he would respect the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should he allow the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court after the withdrawal of his predecessor.

However, Dela Rosa stressed due process will be observed in rejoining the Rome Statute.

"Well, if we want to rejoin, dadaan pa rin 'yan sa proseso (it will still undergo a process). When our representative in The Hague signifies that we can go back and enter the agreement again, it has to be ratified by the President, and after the President's ratification, it has to be concurred by the Senate by a two-thirds vote. So that's the process. Back to zero. Back to square one," he said in a television interview on Monday. 

Citing a provision in the Constitution excluding the House of Representatives in the process, Dela Rosa said the power is "reserved to the Senate."

"Otherwise, 'yung pag-rejoin natin will become unconstitutional kapag hindi natin sundin 'yung proseso na nakalagay sa ating Konstitusyon. So sundin natin 'yon. Otherwise, magiging unconstitutional 'yung pag-rejoin natin kung hindi dadaan sa proseso," he said. 

Dela Rosa thinks the Senate will not allow the Philippines to rejoin in the ICC. 

"I don't think so. Right now, as I have said, again and again, the Senate is composed of 24 independent republics. Nobody can dictate these 24 independent republics sa isang, at one stroke mapa-oo mo ito lahat. Medyo mahirap," he said, when asked if the Senate would vote to rejoin the ICC. 

Should the Senate would be open to the idea of rejoining ICC, Dela Rosa said he will not campaign against it. 

"I know that each and everyone of us has his own stand as far as this issue is concerned. I don't need to campaign. I just would like to present my view, my stand on this. I will not campaign because I know they have their own decisions," he noted. 

The Duterte administration formally withdrew the Philippines' membership from the ICC on 17 March 2019—exactly a year after it revoked the Rome Statute that created the international tribunal in 2011. 

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said Duterte's willingness to face criminal charges related to the implementation of his administration's war on drugs campaign, "provided that these charges are filed before Philippine courts."

"Yes, yes, because our justice system is working. Kung meron mang mag-kaso, haharapin ni Presidente Duterte 'yan, as long as the cases are being filed and tried before Filipino courts, not the courts of the puti and the itim na walang alam kung ano ang nangyayari sa ating bansa (President Duterte will face charges before Philippine courts, not the courts of the whites and the blacks who have no idea what is happening in our country)," he stressed.

Dela Rosa was the chief of the Philippine National Police when the Duterte administration launched its drug war campaign. 

"It should be tried by the brown people. Dapat ganun ang mangyari (That is what should happen). Former President Duterte will face Philippine courts because being a Filipino, he is answerable to Philippine courts, not foreign courts," he added.

The Duterte administration has previously asked the ICC to defer its investigation noting that the Hague-based court "has no jurisdiction" over the Philippine government.

The previous government requested the Prosecutor defer to the Philippine government's investigations and proceedings in a 10 November 2021 letter signed by Ambassador to The Netherlands Eduardo Malaya.

In a separate interview, Lawyer Kristina Conti said the Philippines could rejoin the ICC by rescinding the decision of withdrawal and by signing the Rome Statute again.

Conti, who serves as ICC assistant to counsel, said the Philippines needed a Senate concurrence to return to the ICC. 

"It could be two ways but actually the first way, which is to rescind the decision of withdrawal, kumbaga kakanselahin 'yung naging desisyon (you will cancel the decision) and to rescind the decision which was what happened in several countries," Conti said in a separate interview on Monday. 

"But, at this point, the ICC has already accepted the withdrawal of the Philippines and therefore the second possible means is… to sign again the Rome Statute and bind ourselves to the ICC again. That's the only way we can rejoin, to sign it as a treaty, parang ganon. It requires Senate concurrence for the Philippines to be binded to a treaty," she continued.