The Senate constitutional amendments committee chairman supports the stand of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. to disengage with the International Criminal Court (ICC) which up to now insists on investigating the past administration's "bloody" anti-drug war.
"Our President has made it clear: The ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. Our Solicitor General has also said the Philippines has no legal or moral obligation to cooperate with the ICC,’’ Senator Robinhood C. Padilla, committee chairman, on Wednesday, March 29, said.
Padilla said the ICC seems to be standing on shaky ground.
"It has no power to force itself on the sovereignty of our Motherland, the Philippines,’’ he stressed.
The ICC wants human rights abuses committed during the Duterte administration probed.
Asked if he had talked to former President Duterte, Senator Francis Tolentino, a legal luminary, said: "Di pa kami nag uusap pero kung gusto nya pinapaayos ko ang papers ko ngayon for my proper accreditation. (We have not yet talked but he wants that I prepare my papers for proper accreditation).
Senator Ronald "Bato’’ dela Rosa, former. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, also asked Tolentino, to be his legal counsel in case he would be ordered arrested or when the ICC issues a warrant for his arrest.
Tolentino advised dela Rosa to "stay put and then if there is an administrative or quasi judicial body seeking document or asking for his testimony, submit.’’
"Sa Pinas yan dito dapat mag imbestiga di dapat sa the Netherlands (The investigation should be conducted here, not in the Netherlands,’’ he added.
"My role then would be to ensure the protection of Senator Dela Rosa not just with the confines of the ICC because we’re claiming that they don’t have jurisdiction -- but even locally,’’ he added.
Asked how much should Dela Rosa pay him, Tolentino said all he asks is the coverage of his transportation expenditure which is hefty.
Tolentino emphasized that since the President is the head of the Executive branch, the Department of Justice (DOJ) could take the cue that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) could bar ICC prosecutors from coming into the country.
"The Philippines can do that. Puwede natin sila pagbawalan pumasok (we can bar their entry into the country,’’ he added.
Tolentino said the ICC should not be involved because the Philippine judicial system is working.
ICC should prove that the Philippine judicial system is not working, he explained.
"There is really no reason for ICC to intervene because on a greater scheme of things we are not similar to the previous instances…it is wrong for ICC to compare us with those limited instances wherein the community of nations joined hands and banded together to prosecute…for a foreign chamber intervene with foreign judges is too much …more specifically we are not a member of the Rome statute,’’ he added.