La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)

Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega is the latest member of the House of Representatives to back the proposed return of the Philippines to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“It’s more than me but if I was to decide…it would be proper to really go back to the ICC,” Ortega said in a chance interview on Tuesday, Dec. 10, which coincided with the celebration of International Human Rights Day.

Ortega said he doesn’t see any reason for the country not to return to the ICC.

For one, he noted that the court's scope provides a wider range of accountability.

“Korte naman po iyan eh, so mayroon pong mga proseso ‘yan, may pinagdadaanan. Hindi naman po basta-bastang may problema na ganito, ICC na, hindi naman,” the lawmaker said.

(It's a court, so there are processes, there's something to go through. It's not to say that there if there's a problem, we should go straight already ICC, it's not like that).

Talks of the Philippines' return to the ICC were put on the spotlight anew following the House quad-committee’s (quad-comm) ongoing investigation into extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.

In 2019, then-president Rodrigo Duterte pulled the country out of the ICC by withdrawing from its founding treaty, the Rome Statute.

Duterte had accused the ICC of “outrageous attacks” after the court launched its preliminary examination into a complaint accusing the former president and his close allies of alleged crimes against humanity.

According to human rights organizations, Duterte’s controversial war on drugs led to as many as 30,000 deaths.

On Friday, quad-comm member Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro argued that a return to the ICC would reaffirm the Philippines’ commitment to international norms and further strengthen its legal framework.

“It's imperative for the Philippines to take an unqualified position in its membership in the ICC,” Luistro said in a statement.

Tulfo weighing pros and cons

ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, another member of the majority, said he is still considering the pros and cons of the country’s return to the ICC.

“We really have to wait. Kasi minsan siguro baka dala lang galit, bugso ng damdamin, kaya nakakapag-desisyon tayo,” Tulfo said in a separate interview.

(Because sometimes it's just anger, a gust of emotion, that makes our decision.)

The congressman said the question on whether or not the country shoud rejoin the ICC could be put into a vote before the House plenary.

“Botohan tayo, 310 congressman, ano gusto niyo ICC tayo o hindi?” he posited.

(Let’s vote, 310 congressmen, do you want us to be ICC or not?)

Tulfo, however, pointed out that President Marcos has continued to reiterate that the Philippines would not go back to the fold of the ICC.

“Para namang hindi tayo majority, para namang hindi tayo pro-administration na Congress kung susuwayin natin ang sinasabi ng mama sa itaas,” he added.

(It's like we're not a majority, it's like we're not a pro-administration Congress if we disobey what the man above says.)