Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said on Tuesday, Nov. 5, that he's keen on questioning the Senate leadership should it submit a certified copy of the transcript of the Senate's drug war probe to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This was after Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero stated in an interview that if there's a request from the ICC and there's a valid reason, the Senate will not hesitate to certify a copy of the hearing's transcript.
"Depende 'yan sa liderato ng Senado no kung gusto niya i-submit doon. But then kung mag-submit siya I will try to question him (That will depend on the Senate leadership if he would submit it there. If he does, I will try to question him)," Dela Rosa said in a chance interview.
"Why are you submitting to ICC when in fact we do not recognize the jurisdiction of ICC? Bakit? What? Kung magsubmit tayo doon that is tantamount to recognizing their jurisdiction over us. So I would ask him. Why are you going to submit?," he added.
He also stated that while Escudero has no problem with issuing a copy of the transcript to the ICC, Dela Rosa feels otherwise since the government is very consistent in declaring that ICC has no jurisdiction over the country.
Dela Rosa said that Escudero should ask for what purpose will the transcript be used for and if it's to be used by the ICC, Escudero should decline.
"At pag sinabing para sa ICC, dapat sabihin sana niya na no. (If they tell him it's for ICC, he should say no). Giving this copy to ICC is tantamount to recognizing their jurisdiction over us,"
It was March 2018 when then-president Duterte ordered the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC.
For the senator, since the executive branch has stated that it still does not recognize the ICC's jurisdriction, he expects the legislative to also follow the same line.
He clarified, however, that his stance has nothing to do with the ICC's investigation on the previous administration's drug war.