Bato: Rejoining ICC not an easy process

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said he would respect the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should he allow the Philippines to again come under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

But Dela Rosa stressed that any such move by Marcos would have to be passed upon by the senators.

"Well, if we want to rejoin, it will have to undergo the process. When our representative in The Hague signifies that we want to go back and enter the agreement again, it has to be ratified by the President," Dela Rosa said.

"And after the President's ratification, it has to be concurred in by the Senate with a two-thirds vote. So, that's the process. Back to zero, back to square one," he said.

The ICC is seeking to probe the campaign against illegal drugs during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, where it was estimated by rights and other groups that from 20,000 to 30,000 people were killed by state forces.

Dela Rosa served as the first Philippine National Police chief in the Duterte administration in 2016, and was chief implementor of the so-called "war on drugs." PNP data showed 7,000 people were killed in "legitimate" anti-drug operations.

Without the President's ratification and the concurrence of the Senate, the Philippines rejoining the ICC would be unconstitutional, Dela Rosa averred.

Targets

Former President Duterte and Dela Rosa are among the targets of the ICC investigation, according to people pushing for the prosecution of officials who presided over the government's "Operation Tokhang."

The Senate, Dela Rosa opined, may not be inclined to back the country's return to the fold of the ICC by concurring with the ratification of the Rome Statute that created the court.

"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 upon these 24 independent republics with one stroke."

He said he would not campaign against any Senate move in support of the Philippines rejoining the ICC. "I don't need to campaign. I just would like to present my view, my stand on this," he said.

The Philippines' membership in the ICC formally ended on 17 March 2019, exactly one year after the Duterte administration withdrew from the Rome Statute that created the international tribunal in 2011.

Of late, President Marcos appears open to reexamining the Philippines' withdrawal from the ICC.

Vice President Sara Duterte, on the other hand, said she would insist on the President's earlier position not to allow the ICC to meddle in Philippine affairs as the country has a fully functioning justice system.

"To allow ICC prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes that are now under the exclusive jurisdiction of our prosecutors and our courts is not only patently unconstitutional but effectively belittles and degrades our legal institutions," Duterte said.

Dela Rosa said that former President Duterte has always been ready to face prosecution for the alleged drug-related extrajudicial killings, but only before local courts.