Miriam to ask ICC to allow her to complete duties as senator-judge

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday said she would ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow her to complete her duties as a judge in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona before reporting for duty as a full-time magistrate in The Hague, Netherlands.

Santiago issued the statement is response to criticisms raised on her conduct during the trial, including her efforts to prevent delays.

She noted the six newly elected judges of the ICC would be taking their oaths in March, after which they would go back to their respective countries and wait for the call for them to report for work.

“This (impeachment trial) could take from six months to two years. It is black propaganda to imply that my strong efforts to prevent trial delays will not amount to anything, because I will no longer be in the country when the impeachment trial is submitted for decision,” Santiago said.

“Even only one vote could be crucial to decide the impeachment case. Hence, I shall take steps to persuade the ICC to call me, only until after the impeachment decision has been promulgated,” she added.

Santiago took offense at criticism against her when she started her work as a senator-judge upon her return to the Senate last Jan. 24 after a weeklong leave of absence due to hypertension.

Santiago issued a statement saying her blood pressure shot up to a high of 180/100 over the weekend after listening to criticisms of a “publicity-seeking senatorial candidate” over the radio.

Santiago went on to say that a columnist, whom she described as a known “regular Malacañang apologist,” who “used a fake letter trying to raise an issue about my mental health.”

“The attempt to resurrect the age-old issue of mental health is a dead giveaway that the personal attacks are part of an orchestrated smear campaign. As the last ploy of the desperate, it was used against me during the 1992 presidential campaign,” Santiago said.

“It always resurfaces when, in my crusade against corruption, I make enemies who are so filthy rich that they can hire an expensive PR firm specializing in dirty tricks,” she added.

Santiago issued a warning against her critics with a citation from the riot act to those who abuse press freedom.

“Any personal attacks against a judge during trial qualifies as the crime of contempt, because it tends to degrade the administration of justice. The Supreme Court has ruled that this provision applies even to media. People v. Flores, 239 SCRA 83 (1994),” she said in the statement.

Santiago also challenged the qualifications of her critics while citing her own as a professor of remedial law, alternately with international law and constitutional law, in the University of the Philippines College of Law for 10 years.

“I have received, among others, the TOYM Award from the Philippine Jaycees, and the TOWNS Award from the Philippine Lions, for excellence as a judge. By contrast, what is the record of actual courtroom experience of my enemies?” Santiago said.

“As lawyers, most can only claim ‘law experience,’ but not ‘trial experience.’ Not every dimwit can claim ‘trial practice,’ which calls for the special rules on trial technique and procedure. And what is the basis for all the pious nonsense about judicial behavior, from people who have never seen a courtroom, or read jurisprudence?” she added.

Santiago emphasized that in the courtroom, it is the judge who controls the proceedings and no one else.