ICC probers invited to Senate inquiry

by Paolo RomeRo Philstar.com

MANILA — The Senate is launching a probe that would have officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) involved in investigating the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs testify before a congressional hearing.

Sen. Francis Tolentino said that ICC officials are being invited to appear before the inquiry to be conducted by the Senate committee on justice and human rights. He said preparations for the inquiry are still “a work in progress,” but some initial communications – through parliamentary counterparts in the Netherlands – have already been made to invite ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim

Khan, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and law professor Mervyn Cheong of the National University of Singapore.

Tolentino, who chairs the committee, said that since the inquiry was prompted by resolutions filed in the Senate seeking to defend the previous administration, former president Rodrigo Duterte is being eyed among the resource speakers to be invited.

“This (inquiry) is to clarify issues. This has nothing to do with the ICC case. This has something to do with the (Senate) resolutions. If they (ICC) want us to recognize the work they do, they should also recognize what the Philippines is doing by way of a Senate hearing,” Tolentino told dzBB radio in Filipino. n