Lagman on reso urging PH cooperation with ICC: We’re not putting anyone on trial

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman (left) and President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman has clarified that the filed House resolutions asking the Philippine government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe do not mean putting former president Rodrigo Duterte on trial before the panels discussing the issue.

In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, after the House Committee on Justice and the Committee on Human Rights ended their hearing, Lagman was asked whether the panels should ask for the attendance of Duterte, whose administration has been under scrutiny because of the drug war.

In response, the lawmaker clarified that the committees are not looking at the merits of the complaint against Duterte before the ICC but only at the status of the current administration’s engagement with the ICC.

“Hindi naman tayo, hindi natin nililitis yung merits of the complaint. Ang atin lang tinitignan yung, kailangan ba i-express ang sentiment ng Mababang Kapulungan tungkol sa cooperation ng government sa ICC,” Lagman said.

“We are not trying to try or hear the merits of the complaint. All that we are urging is the cooperation of the government with the ICC,” he added.

At least three House Resolutions (HR) calling on the government to cooperate with ICC’s investigation have been filed — HR No. 1393 from Makabayan bloc lawmakers Reps. France Castro, Arlene Brosas, and Raoul Manuel; HR No. 1477 from Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and 1-Rider Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez; and Lagman’s HR No. 1482.

Earlier, the two committees elected to suspend deliberations of HR No. 1393 and HR No. 1477 to wait for the House to read Lagman’s HR No. 1482 at the plenary and refer it to the said panels.  They also decided to bring in more resource persons, like representatives of drug war victims’ relatives, law enforcement agencies, and other departments.

READ: House panels defer talks over reso on PH’s cooperation in ICC probe 

As to how President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may take this resolution if approved by the House, Lagman said that nothing has been set in stone — meaning that agencies that previously shunned talking to ICC can change their minds.

Marcos previously maintained that the government will no longer talk with the ICC since the international court only comes into the picture if the justice system in a country is not functioning.

READ: Bongbong Marcos: ‘That’s it; we’re done talking with ICC’ 

“Palagay ko naman ang ating Pangulo ay titignan yung sentiment ng Kongreso, ng House of Representatives at sa mundo naman, wala namang na-close, pwede ma-open. ‘Yong mga executive agencies ay pwedeng magpalit ng isip kung talagang nakikita nila na tama talaga na mag-cooperate ang ating bansa sa imbestigasyon ng ICC,” Lagman said.

(I think our President will look at the sentiments of Congress, of the House of Representatives, and in our world, nothing that has been closed cannot be opened again.  The executive agencies can still change their mind if they see that it is only correct to cooperate with the investigation of the ICC.)

“Eh kami naman eh talagang matagal na naming hinihiling yun na mag-cooperate na. Palagay ko may mga pagpapalit sa pananaw ng majority na talagang kailangan na sundin natin ang rule of law at yung world order, kailangan mag-cooperate fully ang ating bansa sa imbestigasyon ng prosecutors ng ICC. And we should not be… Uulitin ko, we shouldn’t be a renegade in the international order,” he added.

(We have been asking the government to cooperate with the ICC.  I think there is a shift in the perspective of the majority, as they think that we now need to follow the rule of law and the world order; the Philippines needs to cooperate fully with the investigation being done by ICC prosecutors. And we should not be — let me repeat — we shouldn’t be a renegade in the international order,” he added.

Several crimes against humanity raps were filed by drug war victims’ relatives against Duterte and implementers of the drug war — including Duterte’s first police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa — based on claims that the state forces committed mass murder and gross human rights violations in the process.

In response to the complaints, Duterte declared in March 2018 that the Philippines is leaving the Rome Statute — the international treaty that created the ICC.  Duterte and his allies have maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the country and that he has not done anything that would merit such complaints.

READ: Duterte does the inevitable, declares PH withdrawal from ICC 

However, several groups recently urged Marcos to allow the ICC to start its probe after Duterte supposedly admitted in a televised program to using secret funds to conduct extrajudicial killings (EJKs).