Former Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Monday, July 18 said the International Criminal Court (ICC) should decide once and for all on what it wants to do with the Philippines on alleged human rights violations “so the Philippines can react properly.”
“We cannot react to a non-final decision by an outsider. Sayang oras natin (We all only be wasting our tine) if we always react to all the developments within the ICC.
‘’Let’s react to a final decision and action,” Pimentel said.
Senator Robinhood Padilla said the Philippines was hurt when the UN already made a judgment although “wala pa sila dito (they were not here).”
“Dahil sa mga nagpunta doon at nagpresent ng ebidensya doon na pulitika (Those who went there and presented evidence were politically tainted). Sa akin naman one plus one yun sigurado opposisyon nagdala doon ano sasabihin (To me, one plus one . I am sure that the political opposition brought those statements). walang pinakamaganda na kumuha sila ng tao na nakakaalam ano talaga drugs sa Pinas (The best thing they should do is to bring a person who knows what is going on),” Padilla told Senate reporters in an interview.
Padilla strongly suggested that a UN agency should observe only.
“Observe na lang sila (They should observe only). Masyadong masakit kapag sila ang gumawa ng imbestigasyon (It will hurt too much if they undertake an investigation)… para kayo utusan nyo kami masakit yan magagalit si Andres Bonifacio nyan (We view this as an outside interference that Andres Bonifacio will get angry),” Padilla added.
Asked whether the Philippines should not follow the UN agency’s bidding, Padilla replied: “Di nila tayo pwedeng pilitin… pwede silang magsalita o request pero di nila pwedeng pilitin ang gobyerno ng pilipinas (They cannot force us…they can talk or request but they cannot force the Philippines),” he added.
Pimentel pointed out that the ICC is an independent international organization.
“We should allow them to decide autonomously. Pero wag na kasi sila urong sulong (The UN should in a position of doing this, not doing that). Yan ang advice ko sa ICC (that is my advice to ICC). Decide once and for all. We cannot react to a non final decision by an outsider,” he pointed out.
“Let us spend our time and energy on the Filipino people’s major concerns right now like poverty made more burdensome by a looming food crisis, education problems, energy costs, weak economy, inflation, lack of jobs, and gigantic debt which doubled in just six years,” he added.
Pimentel is expected to assume the post of Senate Minority Leader when the 19th Congress opens on July 25.
He belongs to the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban party (Pacquiao-Pimentel wing) after a split from the PDP-Laban (Cusi wing) where former President Duterte was a top official.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan sought last month a resumption of his probe after he determined that there were no genuine investigations being carried out by the Philippine government into the drug war killings.
Khan’s decision came despite numerous efforts of Duterte-era government agencies to shield the apparent lack of justice in the country, including the Department of Justice (DOJ)-led drug war review which Khan referred to as a mere “desk review… by itself does not constitute investigative activity.
The acts at the ICC are different from the actions taken by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), a UN body composed of 47 member-states supposed to promote the protection of human rights.
Instead of opening an independent investigation into the killings, the council in October 2020 adopted a resolution giving technical assistance to address the situation in the Philippines.