Senators share diverse views on ICC drug war investigation

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

“serve the work of evangelization, so that Christ, the light of the nations, may be known and witnessed to by word and deed, and the Church, his mystical Body, may be built up.”

According to the Praedicate Evangelicum n. 53, the dicastery “is responsible for the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world and for the establishment, accompaniment and support of the new particular Churches, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.”

The dicastery addresses the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world, and is dedicated to the “first evangelization and the new particular Churches in the territories within its competence.”

Msgr. Balagapo was ordained priest in July 1996.

SENATORS gave mixed reactions to reports of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to proceed with its prosecutor’s investigation of the Duterte-era bloody war on drugs.

The chairman of the Senate’s Justice and Human Rights panel, Sen. Francisco Tolentino, said the decision, announced in The Hague on Tuesday afternoon (Manila time), does not change the fact that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, a democracy with fully functioning courts.

However, the Senate’s Deputy Minority Leader, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, described the ICC ruling as a “step in achieving justice” for the victims of what human rights groups have described as a bloody campaign that killed thousands, including innocent people.

Earlier, Senate President Miguel Zubiri, replying to reporters’ queries, said that the Senate will protect one of its members, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, in case the ICC seeks to summon or arrest him. Unless, Zubiri said, the warrant is issued by a Philippine court.

In his statement Wednesday on the ICC’s decision to proceed with the Philippines’ drug war probe, Tolentino said, “Once again, the denial of the appeal does not grant the ICC the jurisdiction which it lacks from the very beginning.”

“Any misguided claims suggesting otherwise would only highlight ICC’s persistent disregard for Philippine sovereignty,”Tolentino said, stressing, “It is important to note that a foreign entity has no authority to investigate the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.”

Hontiveros, for her part, said, “This is an important first step in achieving justice for