Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution calling on the President Marcos' administration to cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
“The Philippines has historically been at the forefront of advancing humanitarian law and international justice, and it is high time that we affirm our commitment to these values before the international community,” Hontiveros said in her proposed Senate Resolution 867, which she filed on Monday, November 28.
"Now, therefore, be it resolved as it is hereby resolved that the Senate of the Philippines urges the Executive Department of the Republic of the Philippines to cooperate with the International Criminal Court and assist in the ICC investigation into the situation in the Philippines,” she also stated in the resolution.
The resolution filed by the Senate deputy minority leader came after a similar resolution was filed in the House of Representatives.
Afterwards, President Marcos said that the government's return to the ICC fold is now "under study."
Marcos' statement was a shift from his earlier stance that the Philippines will not cooperate with the ICC's probe into the drug war.
Hontiveros said the recent pronouncements by the President, his allies and his deputies offer hope for a “gamechanger” for the families of Kian delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz, Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman, and thousands of other Filipino families seeking justice for human rights violations.
"Sana ay hudyat na ito ng mas matibay na pagpapahalaga ng pamahalaan sa hustisya at karapatang pantao - at hindi pakitang tao lamang (I hope that this signals the government's sincere resolve to uphold justice and human rights)," Hontiveros said in a statement.