Septuagenarian Notes: LOCAL LAW MANDATES BBM GOV'T TO SURRENDER GONGDI TO ICC

BY PHILIP M LUSTRE.jR. 

DON'T believe stupid senators like Francis Tolentino. Bong Go, Robin Padilla and Bato dela Rosa. Don't take seriously mediocre Solicitor-General Menardo Guevarra and equally stupid minor DoJ officials. Their insistence that Rodrigo Duterte and his ilk stand no responsibility for those EJKs since the Philippines has withdrawn its membership in the Rome Statute has no basis. It BS and does not rest on solid ground - legal or otherwise. By the way, Rome Statute is the treaty that has created the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On the contrary, Duterte and his ilk are still responsible despite his 2019 unilateral decision of to withdraw the membership of the Philippines in the Rome Statute. A domestic law, RA 9851, which defines crimes against humanity, mandates the incumbent president to surrender to any international tribunal any Filipino, who is accused of committing crimes against humanity.  

Duterte, Bato dela Rosa, and Bong Go are among the former public officials, who are accused of committing crimes against humanity charges before the ICC. The charges have reached "formal investigation" at the ICC. Duterte was the chief architest of the war on drugs, while Bato and Bong Go were his chief implementors. They all stand jail terms before the ICC if ever they are proven to have committed those crimes against humanity, which include murder.

Former Senator Leila de Lima made clear before the Oct. 22 QuadComm public hearing at the House of Representatives that one of the least understood provisions of RA 9851 is the aspect of jurisdiction on the crimes that cover crimes against humanity, or genocide, or murder of people who belongs to the same religion of ethnicity.

RA 9851 has become a law on Dec. 11, 2011. It acknowledges crimes like willful killing or murder, extermination, torture, at enforced or involuntary disappearance. It imposes a life term of imprisonment for guilty parties.

An important aspect of de Lima's testimony before the QuadComm is that the BBM government could surrender Duterte and his ilk to the ICC. This is the specific provision:

“Section 17 – Jurisdiction In the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities may dispense with the investigation or prosecution of a crime punishable under this Act if another court or international tribunal is already conducting the investigation or undertaking the prosecution of such crime. Instead, the authorities may surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties.”

De Lima explained that even before the Philippines became an ICC member in 2011, the Philippines, through RA 9851, has acknowledged the ICC's power to investigate and prosecute  the officials who committed crimes against humanity  

Although the Philippines was not yet a member when RA 9851 was enacted by Congress, de Lima said the Philippines saw the necessity to acknowledge an international tribunal like the ICC. Although the Philippines was not yet a member of the Romes Statute, the GMA administration saw the necessity for an international tribunal to prosecute and try violators like Duterte, de Lima said.

De Lima said Duterte withdrew the membership of the Philippines from the Rome Statute mainly for selfish reasons. She said the BBM government should rejoin the ICC. “We must return to the fold of the ICC. We must rejoin,” she said, “this is to stop the unabated EJKs of our citizens.”