PH withdrawal from ICC has little effect on country — Gordon

Senator Richard Gordon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon believes that the formal withdrawal of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC) will not have any substantial effect on the country.

Gordon made the statement on Sunday when asked for comment on the move of the country to withdraw from the ICC.

“Kung tatanungin mo ako, ayokong mag-member diyan. As a sovereign country, we have the Revised Penal Code. Meron tayong special laws,” Gordon, who chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said in an interview over dzBB.

“[Kung] idadagdag mo pa yan, e talagang makikitang para kang timawang bansa,” he added.

The Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC is effective on Sunday after the Supreme Court (SC) has not taken any action on the matter.

The SC failed to issue a ruling on the consolidated petitions filed by six opposition senators and Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court led by former Commission on Human Right (CHR) chairperson Loretta Rosales.

READ: Philippines nearing official withdrawal from ICC

With this, the CHR warned on the impending effect of the country’s withdrawal from the ICC.

“It is then impunity that wins as a consequence of withdrawal,” the commission said in a separate statement.

CHR added that the withdrawal from the ICC would be “a reversal of the country’s commitment to international treaty obligations, particularly in ending impunity, and a step back from the gains the Philippines has achieved in promoting justice and human rights.”

READ: CHR: Impunity wins when PH withdrawal from ICC takes effect

However, Gordon stressed that impunity will not prevail in the country despite its withdrawal.

“Kung may ICC or wala, dapat hindi pumapatay ang ano mang gobyerno, malinaw yan,” Gordon said. /cbb