EXCLUSIVE by Raïssa Robles
Pimentel
Cayetano
When 17 senators backed the International Criminal Court concept in 2011, they fully knew what it meant. Eight of them were lawyers and weren’t stupid. In fact, one of them – Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III now the Senate President – topped the bar.
At that time, then Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had told them the possible serious consequence of “concurring in the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court” or ICC.
Nine of the 17 senators are still in power. Three of the nine are now very close allies of President Rodrigo Duterte: his Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano; Cayetano’s sister House Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano; and Senate President Koko Pimentel, who is also president of Duterte’s ruling party PDP-Laban.
They knew fully well that a sitting Philippine President could be hauled before the ICC.
In fact, it was exactly what then Senate President Enrile had warned them about on August 16, 2011, when Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago sponsored on the floor what finally became known as Senate Resolution No. 57.
Enrile cast the lone dissenting vote to this Philippine commitment to concur in the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC.
By the way, the argument of Malacañang Palace that Philippine participation in the ICC was rendered invalid by “the glaring and fatal error of lack of publication of the Rome Statute” in the Official Gazette holds no water. Because what senators approved was not a law but a three-page Senate resolution “concurring in the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC.”
The Rome Statute was first signed by President Joseph Estrada way back in the year 2000, according to the late Senator Santiago in her August 16, 2011 sponsorship speech. After Estrada’s ouster, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not ratify it and send it to the Senate for concurrence. It was only ratified in 2011 by President Benigno Aquino III, who immediately forwarded it to the Senate.
Senator Miriam Santiago shepherded Senate Resolution 57
Senator Santiago shepherded the senators’ concurrence. She told them in her sponsorship speech that the Rome Statute was “the most important institutional innovation since the founding of the United Nations [and] a benchmark in the progressive development of international human rights.”
She explained that “Under Article 1: ‘It shall be a permanent institution and shall have the power to exercise its jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern… and shall be complementary to national criminal jurisdiction.’”
Her co-sponsor Senator Legarda, now chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gushingly described the Rome Statute as “the ‘great leap forward’ in the Philippines’ growth as a vibrant democracy and in the country’s own campaign against impunity.”
Afterward, Legarda personally flew to the United Nations headquarters in New York “to deposit” the “ICC Rome Statute Instrument of Ratification”.
She marked this occasion with the photo below:
L-R: Senate Foreign Relations chair Loren Legarda; Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan; Arancha Hinojal-Oyarbide, Legal Officer and Andrei Kolomoets, Information Management Officer, both of the Treaty Section, UN Office of Legal Affairs.
Enrile warned colleagues about Rome Statute’s implications
When the matter came to a vote on August 23, 2011, Enrile voted “NO” and warned his colleagues that by committing to the Rome Statute, any sitting Philippine President could be prosecuted by the ICC.
According to the Senate Journal,
“He [Enrile] also doubted whether the President, although immune from suit during his/her term of office, could invoke such immunity before the International Criminal Court.”
“He reminded that part of the oath of the President of the country is to execute the laws, criminal laws in particular, and although no President of the Philippines has deliberately ignored the enforcement of criminal laws in cases of internal conflict, occasions had arisen in the past where the Commander-in-Chief had been accused of negligence or neglect in the enforcement of criminal laws based on claims of atrocities committed against the Filipino people even if such claims were untrue. He posited that if the conflict intensifies, it is not far-fetched that the same claims would again be raised and that the security forces of the country—especially the leaders of the Armed forces—-could be haled before the International Criminal Court to the detriment of the government’s internal efforts to protect the country.
“He said that while it may not happen that some or any of them would be finally condemned, they would still be exposed to all kinds of suits compelling them to spend a fortune in defending themselves, and subjecting them to worries while awaiting the verdict of the court that is outside the Philippine forum.”
That last paragraph indicates the serious aggravation that the 11 other officials named along with President Duterte in the ICC complaint could be facing. Unlike Duterte, all of them do not enjoy immunity from suit.
Interpellating Senator Santiago earlier on August 16, 2011, Enrile said that if the Senate backed the statute, “the Philippines would be duty-bound to serve the ICC’s warrant of arrest.”
He gave as a hypothetical example the case of then Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Senate Journal stated that in —
“the case of Muammar Gaddafi, Senate President Enrile supposed that the Philippines, as a state-party, would be duty-bound to arrest Muammar Gaddafi, in case he was in the country, there being an ICC warrant of arrest against him.”
“He [Enrile]expressed concern that the followers of President Gaddafi might retaliate against the Filipinos in Libya.”
Enrile’s warning turned out to be prescient.
On October 9, 2013, Kenya’s sitting President Uhuru Kenyatta became the first-ever head of state to appear before the ICC to face charges of committing crimes against humanity.
https://theconversation.com/the-international-criminal-court-on-trial-as-it-takes-on-a-president-32628
A year later, though, charges against Kenyatta were withdrawn for lack of evidence. The ICC said the Kenyan government had refused to give vital information for the case to prosper. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30347019
Despite Enrile’s warning, 17 other senators voted to concur with the Rome Statute [NOTE – those with asterisk are lawyers]:
1. Allan Peter Cayetano*
2. Pia Cayetano*
3. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel*
4. Vicente Sotto III
5. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the main co-sponsor*
6. Panfilo Lacson
7. Francis Escudero*
8. Jinggoy Ejercito-Estrada
9. Gregorio Honasan II
10. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos
11. Manny Villar
12. Sergio Osmena III
13. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes
14. Teofisto “Tg” Guingona III*
15. Francis Pangilinan*
16. Edgardo Angara*
17. Ramon Revilla, Jr.
During the voting, Senator Alan Cayetano said he was reserving his right to submit a written explanation of his “YES” vote, but this is not in the Senate Journal that day.
Senator Loren Legarda, the co-sponsor, and Senator Lito Lapid were absent “on official mission” on the day of voting, while Sen. Ralph Recto sent word he was ill.
Two senators were present during the roll call but became absent during the voting: Franklin Drilon and Joker Arroyo (the latter probably would have voted “no” since he aired some objections during the Senate interpellation).
Please note that there were only 23 senators in 2011 since the 24th senator, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, had become President in 2010.
So the total vote count was: 17 “Yes”, 1 “No”, 5 ABSENT, but NO ABSTENTION among those present.
Why have most of the senators who voted YES not spoken up to defend their action?
Why the stunning silence?
Yvonne says
Zuckerberg Under Fire For Facebook’s Deal With Rodrigo Duterte
If anybody still doubt about how Facebook was used by Duterte to misled the Filipino people with fake news to win the elections, watch and listen to this video.
If the many reports in print media do not convince you yet, maybe this video report will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk_ns1ynSRo
Yvonne says
HOW FACEBOOK’S POLITICAL UNIT ENABLES THE DARK ART OF DIGITAL PROPAGANDA
Notable quote from the article: “In the Philippines, it trained the campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, known for encouraging extrajudicial killings, in how to most effectively use the platform”
Excerpts from the article:
“Zuckerberg’s social network is a politically agnostic tool for its more than 2 billion users, he has said. But Facebook, it turns out, is no bystander in global politics. What he hasn’t said is that his company actively works with political parties and leaders including those who use the platform to stifle opposition—sometimes with the aid of “troll armies” that spread misinformation and extremist ideologies.”
“The initiative is run by a little-known Facebook global government and politics team that’s neutral in that it works with nearly anyone seeking or securing power. The unit is led from Washington by Katie Harbath, a former Republican digital strategist who worked on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign. Since Facebook hired Harbath three years later, her team has traveled the globe helping political clients use the company’s powerful digital tools.”
“In the U.S., the unit embedded employees in Trump’s campaign. (Hillary Clinton’s camp declined a similar offer.) In India, the company helped develop the online presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who now has more Facebook followers than any other world leader. In the Philippines, it trained the campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, known for encouraging extrajudicial killings, in how to most effectively use the platform. And in Germany it helped the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD) win its first Bundestag seats, according to campaign staff.”
Yvonne says
Read the full article here:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-21/inside-the-facebook-team-helping-regimes-that-reach-out-and-crack-down
canadadry says
DISTURBING FACTS ON BLOOMBERG REPORT CITED BY YVONNE
Thanks Yvonne and netty..
No wonder there were parallels on the triumphant experience of Du30, Trump, etc as the following excerpts from the report reveals:
“It’s not Facebook’s job, in my opinion, to be so close to any election campaign,” said Elizabeth Linder, who started and ran the Facebook politics unit’s Europe, Middle East and Africa efforts until 2016. Linder had originally been excited about the company’s potential to be “extraordinarily useful for the world’s leaders—but also the global citizenry.” She said she decided to leave the company in part because she grew uncomfortable with what she saw as increased emphasis on electioneering and campaigns.
” In the U.S., the unit embedded employees in Trump’s campaign. (Hillary Clinton’s camp declined a similar offer.) In India, the company helped develop the online presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who now has more Facebook followers than any other world leader. In the Philippines, it trained the campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, known for encouraging extrajudicial killings, in how to most effectively use the platform. And in Germany it helped the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD) win its first Bundestag seats, according to campaign staff….”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-21/inside-the-facebook-team-helping-regimes-that-reach-out-and-crack-down
The trolls we now experienced appears to be a consequence of this type of people manipulation engaged by the government with the active participation of Facebook personnel… wow…
canadadry says
which is probably being employed versus human rights workers via connecting them with drug lords and therefore targets for extrajudicial killings…tsk tsk tsk..the fight against critics of Du30 government is fast becoming a criminal undetaking…
Yvonne says
HOW RODRIGO DUTERTE TURNED FACEBOOK INTO A WEAPON
– ACCORDING TO BLOOMBERG
As the campaign for the 2016 Philippine presidential election got under way, Facebook began receiving inquiries from candidates on how they could best use the platform. In January the company flew in three employees who spent a week holding training sessions with candidates. When it was Duterte’s turn, the Facebook team gathered with the campaign inside the Peninsula Manila Hotel. The campaign staff was trained in everything from the basics of setting up a campaign page and getting it authenticated with the trademark blue check mark to how to use content to attract followers. As an example of the use of unscripted video, the Duterte campaign was shown a live Facebook video of Barack Obama preparing for his State of the Union speech in 2016. The clip garnered more views than a video of the actual address to Congress.
Armed with new knowledge, Duterte’s people constructed a social media apparatus unlike that of any other candidate in the race. The strategy relied on hundreds of volunteers organized into four groups—three in the Philippines, based on geography, and one comprising overseas Filipino workers, a crucial constituency—to distribute messages created by the campaign. Every day the campaign would tee up the messages for the following day, and the volunteers would distribute them across networks that included real and fake Facebook accounts, some with hundreds of thousands of followers.
Facebook initially started receiving complaints about inauthentic pages. It seemed harmless enough—they supported a range of candidates, and most of them appeared to originate from zealous fans. Soon, however, there were complaints about Duterte’s Facebook army circulating aggressive messages, insults, and threats of violence. Then the campaign itself began circulating false information. In March one of the campaign’s Facebook pages posted a fake endorsement by Pope Francis, with the words “Even the Pope Admires Duterte” beneath the pope’s image. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines posted a statement saying, “May we inform the public that this statement from the Pope IS NOT TRUE. … We beg everyone to please stop spreading this.”
Duterte ended up dominating the political conversation so thoroughly that in April, a month before the vote, a Facebook report called him the “undisputed king of Facebook conversations.” He was the subject of 64 percent of all Philippine election-related conversations on the site.
After Duterte won, Facebook did what it does for governments all over the world—it began deepening its partnership with the new administration, offering white-glove services to help it maximize the platform’s potential and use best practices. Even as Duterte banned the independent press from covering his inauguration live from inside Rizal Ceremonial Hall, the new administration arranged for the event to be streamed on Facebook, giving Filipinos around the world insider access to pre- and post-ceremonial events as they met their new strongman.
Yvonne says
The above article was excerpted from Bloomberg.
To read the entire article, please click on this link:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-07/how-rodrigo-duterte-turned-facebook-into-a-weapon-with-a-little-help-from-facebook
raissa says
No.
Lots of help.
Facebook, in turn, got the exclusive right to cover Duterte’s presidential inauguration through streaming video.
Media men and women were not allowed inside the ceremonial hall while the oath-taking was going on.
arc says
in other countries po, turkey among others, I think, banned the internet months b4 election. now, I understand why.
and as usual, rights group protested heavily, the internet is for free speech kuno.
netty says
More news unfolding on the Facebook data mining, yes mining, because every personal information is sold and turns into gold $$$$.
Fyi…//www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-27/twitter-user-breaks-down-all-personal-data-facebook-and-google-collect
I guess that already includes yours and my very own precious$$ FB, GOOGLE INFO… every move you make~~~
The only regret I have is that I became a tool to enrich more the rich, wealthy billionaires and not the ones who really need the largesse.
I am on FB, but this is my podium to plant seeds for deeper info, spirituality and educ. matters, not only for cutie stuff aside from being a contact point for family , friends and other contact persons.
So, we know our infos are being harvested, our akashic record on earth for the time being, I wonder what comes next.