MANILA -- The Supreme Court (SC) has reset the third day of the oral arguments on the petition seeking to invalidate the Philippine government's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) from Sept. 18 to October 9.
“#ICCWithdrawal oral arguments will resume on October 9 at 2 p.m., not September 18. Parties were advised after CJ de Castro gavelled for the adjournment,” the SC Public Information Office said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro would not preside the last day of the oral arguments as she will retire on October 8.
The SC has held oral arguments on the consolidated petitions filed by six opposition senators and the Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court (PCICC), led by former Commission on Human Rights chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales, challenging the ICC withdrawal last Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, respectively.
During last Tuesday’s oral argument, former Akbayan Party-list Rep. Barry Gutierrez, and the lawyer for senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Antonio Trillanes IV, Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, reiterated the arguments raised in the petition:
-Treaty withdrawal demands Senate concurrence;
-Treaty-making power is a shared power between the President and the Senate;
-An Executive Agreement cannot be used to amend a Treaty; and
-The Philippines' withdrawal from the Rome Statute places the Philippines in breach of its obligations under international law.
In the oral arguments on Oct. 9, the government will be represented by the Office of the Solicitor General.
On March 14, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the Philippines’ withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute, a United Nations treaty creating the ICC. (PNA)
