Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday directed anew the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York to include the candidates from Japan and Germany to the list that the country will support to fill up the five vacant judges’ seats in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“Now you have 3 candidates to vote for: China, Japan, and Germany. The big powers,” Locsin said in a tweet, a day after he instructed the Philippine Mission to cast the Philippine vote for the Chinese candidate.
With the three choices, the DFA secretary directed the Philippine Mission to wait for further instructions if and when they will decide to add two more to complete the votes for the five vacancies.
“Stop there until further instructions. And remember no quid pro quo. We don't trade on such important matters,” he said.
In another tweet, Locsin took exception to the remarks made by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque that the Philippines is supporting Judge Xue Hanqin, the Chinese candidate to the ICJ, due to the “very close relationship” between the two countries.
“Harry doesn't know what he’s talking about on this score. When it comes to anything foreign affairs, ask the DFA, specifically me, and if I’m not available, wait,” the country’s top diplomat said.
The ICJ is set to hold its election on November 11, 2020 (Nov. 12 in Manila).
Aside from Xue, seven other nationals are vying for the five vacant ICJ seats namely, Julia Sebutinde (Uganda), Yuji Iwasawa (Japan), and Peter Tomka (Slovakia), Taoheed Olufemi Elias (Nigeria), Emmanuel Ugirashebuja (Rwanda), Maja Seršić (Croatia), and Georg Nolte (Germany).