“Cooperate with the International Criminal Court.”
This was the call of House Resolution No. 1477 filed last week by House Human Rights panel Chair Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. and 1-Rider Party-list Rep Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, a press release from the House of Representatives said.
HR No. 1477 stressed at the outset that the Philippine Constitution declares that “the State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect of human rights.”
According to HR No. 1477, the Philippine government has clearly demonstrated that it “respects the rule of international law and recognizes the proceedings of the ICC” as evidenced by its initial request to the ICC to defer its investigation, as well as its subsequent petition to the ICC Appeals Chamber.
The house resolution pointed out that despite the country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the jurisdiction of the ICC was reinforced by the Supreme Court of the Philippines when it rendered a judgment stating that “the ICC retains jurisdiction over any and all acts committed by government actors until March 17, 2019.”
The ICC has maintained that it retains jurisdiction with respect to any alleged crime that occurred in the Philippines while it was a State Party to the Rome Statute, from November 1, 2011 up to March 16, 2019.
Given the foregoing, the appropriate government departments are urged “to extend their full cooperation to the ICC Prosecutor with respect to its investigation of any alleged crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”
The Philippines is the second country to withdraw from the ICC. It followed Burundi, which left the ICC in 2017.*
