MANILA, Philippines — Senate justice panel chairperson Francis Tolentino said Friday he is “inclined” to conduct hearings on resolutions that seek to express the upper chamber’s opposition to the International Criminal Court’s investigation on the Duterte administration’s “war on drugs.”
“I am inclined, if time permits, to conduct a hearing concerning the resolutions,” Tolentino said in a virtual news conference.
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Sen. Robinhood Padilla filed in February a resolution that calls on the Senate to express its “unequivocal defense” of former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose administration oversaw a bloody crackdown on illegal drugs that killed at least 6,000 in police operations, although human rights groups say this number could reach 30,000.
That same month, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada — who was among the 17 senators who voted to concur in the ratification of the Rome Statute that created the ICC — filed a resolution asking the Senate to express its “strong opposition” to the international tribunal’s probe.
Tolentino said Duterte, whom he is allied with, may be invited to the hearing which could be held over Congress’ break.
The senator said he is also mulling to invite resource persons from the ICC, including its prosecutor Karim Khan.
“I would want to have Mr. Khan explain the reason why they insisted that the pleading filed by the Office of the Solicitor General was not complete, was not conclusive enough,” Tolentino said.
In a decision dated Monday, the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected the Philippines’ request to suspend Khan’s investigation while the court deliberates on whether to grant Manila’s appeal to scrap the probe entirely.
“In the absence of persuasive reasons in support of ordering suspensive effect, the Appeals Chamber rejects the request. This is without prejudice to its eventual decision on the merits of the Philippines’ appeal against the Impugned Decision,” it said in the decision signed by Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.
The Impugned Decision refers to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision allowing Khan’s investigation into the situation in the Philippines, particularly the alleged crimes committed between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the “war on drugs” campaign.
There is still no case at bar as the ICC is still in the investigation phase, but as early as now Duterte has tapped his former spokesperson, Harry Roque, to lawyer for him, while former top cop Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, has sought the assistance of Tolentino.
Tolentino announced that he has accepted Dela Rosa’s request to be his legal counsel before the ICC and has sought clearance from Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri for this purpose.
For now, Tolentino said Dela Rosa should “stay put.”
“Stay put and if there is an administrative or a quasi-judicial body seeking documents or asking for his testimony, we will submit. The Philippines should investigate, not The Netherlands or The Hague,” Tolentino said.