House acting on grievances over ICC probe – Romualdez

SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday dismissed Sen. Ronald dela Rosa’s statement questioning the timing of the hearings being conducted by the House of Representative on resolutions urging the government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Romualdez said there are no hidden motives in the House action, pointing out that the House joint committees on justice and on human rights are merely acting on the “grievances” of some lawmakers.

“Sense of the House naman ‘yan e. ‘Yan ang hinaing ng ibang mga kongresista (It’s just the sense of the House. That’s the grievances of some congressmen),” he told reporters in Talisay City, Cebu where the Speaker and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia led the ceremonial selling of P20 per kilogram of rice during the launch of the “Sugbo Merkadong Barato” at the city hall.

The Speaker said the joint hearings on the ICC resolutions will give resource persons a chance to be heard before the panel members vote.

“Magkakaroon tayo ng tamang panahon o hearings kung saan nila ilalabas ‘yung mga arguments for and against po (There will be a time or hearings where arguments for or against the resolutions will be heard),” Romualdez said.

The two panels last week started tackling House Resolution No. 1393 filed by the militant Makabayan bloc and HR No. 1477 authored by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, who chairs the human rights panel, and Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider).

The House joint committees, however, had to defer the hearings pending the referral of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s House Resolution No. 1482 which seeks to verify if the body has jurisdiction over the country since the Duterte administration withdrew from the ICC’s Rome Statute on March 17, 2018.

He reminded the joint panels that the jurisdiction of the ICC over covered crimes committed in the Philippines took effect on November 1, 2011 after the Philippines acceded to the Rome Statute, and the withdrawal became effective only a year after its filing, specifically on March 17, 2019.

Consequently, Lagman said the jurisdiction of the ICC on covered crimes committed in the Philippines spans the period from