MIRIAM WANTS RP IN ICC

 Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today filed a resolution urging President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to transmit the Rome Statute to the Senate for ratification proceedings. 

Santiago said that the change in US leadership will likely pave the way for US ratification of the Rome Statute. 

Like the US , the Philippines has yet to ratify the Rome Statute. Malacañang still has to transmit the treaty to the Senate for ratification even though the Philippines has been a signatory of the treaty since 28 December 2002. 

Under the Constitution, before the Rome Statute can be valid and effective in the Philippines , it is necessary that the Statute be concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate. 

“Though the US , under the Bush administration, did not ratify the Rome Statute, President-elect Barack Obama’s statements on the International Criminal Court (ICC) suggests that he is open to working closely with the Court,” Santiago said. 

Mr. Obama has acknowledged in media interviews that the ICC has “pursued charges only in cases of the most serious and systematic crimes and it is in America ’s interests that these most heinous of criminals, like the perpetrators of the genocide in Darfur , are held accountable. These actions are a credit to the cause of justice and deserve full American support and cooperation.” 

The Rome Statute provides for the establishment of the ICC, which exercises jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. 

In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Pimentel v. Office of the Executive Secretary that neither the Senate nor the Supreme Court can compel the President to transmit the signed text of the Rome Statute to the Senate. The President has sole discretion in initiating the ratification proceedings of a treaty.  

FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC )
OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

SENATE

P.S.R. No. 228


Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago


URGENT RESOLUTION
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT IT IS AN UNPARLIAMENTARY ACT FOR A SENATOR TO LEAD AN ATTEMPTED COUP D’ETAT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT,
AND CALLING FOR HIS PROPER PUNISHMENT

WHEREAS, on 29 November 2007, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is detained and under trial on a charge of coup d’etat, walked out of a Makati courtroom and stormed into a hotel where he participated in the reading of a prepared seditious statement calling not only for the President to resign, but also for the public, in effect, to compel her to leave office;

WHEREAS, the Rules of the Senate, Rule 34, Section 97, provides:

SEC. 97. Upon the recommendation of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, the Senate may punish any Member for disorderly behavior and, with the concurrence of two-thirds (2/3) of the entire membership, suspend or expel a Member. A penalty of suspension shall not exceed sixty (60) calendar days.

WHEREAS, the Constitution, Article II, Section 3, provides:

SEC. 3. Civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State.

WHEREAS, this provision means that the President, as commander-in-chief, is supreme not only over the military, but also over its rogue elements. Furthermore, the provision that the AFP is the protector of the people is not meant to authorize any of the rogue military to stage a coup d’etat, but is intended to emphasize the defense of the country from foreign attack;

WHEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, should meet immediately and recommend the proper punishment for Senator Trillanes for disorderly behavior and unparliamentary acts and language, including if necessary, his suspension or expulsion from the Senate.

Adopted,


                                                                                                                         (Sgd.)

MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

News Release

21 August 2007

MIRIAM SEEKS PROBE OF OFFICIAL VIPS CODDLING CAR SMUGGLERS

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago charged that car smuggling, particularly in free port zones, is protected by “untouchable very high government officials,” and called for a Senate hearing to identify them for criminal prosecution.

“The creation of a Presidential Task Force, and the ostentatious destruction of smuggled cars, are superficial remedies. The real problem is not car smuggling, but the invulnerable power of very high officials to protect smuggling rings on a regular basis,” she said.

Santiago said that sometimes, the top officials of the customs bureau, the task force, or the free port authority protect the syndicates on a “retail basis,” and make selective exposes of car smuggling, to appease public protest.

But she added that most of the time, these low level officials follow a hands-off policy because “very high level officials” protect smuggling on a “wholesale basis.”

The senator said her suspects in Metro Manila are VIPs in the executive and legislative branches of government, while her suspects in local governments are governors and mayors of LGUs where a free port zone is located.

The senator said that this alleged protection racket is self-evident, citing the endemic nature of car smuggling, and the common practice of smuggling cars in free port zones, even if there are regular customs zones in the same area.

“The main function of a free port zone is to import foreign goods, enhance their value with Philippine labor, and re-export them immediately without reaching the domestic market. This is why a free port zone is placed outside Customs jurisdiction. The problem is that the cars are not re-exported abroad but smuggled outside of the free port zone for domestic use,” she said.

The senator said that the real test of the political will to stop car smuggling is if the administration resolve to amend all free port laws, known as charters, to either place car importers under Customs jurisdiction, or to prohibit completely motor vehicle imports in the free port zones.

“The exemption of free port zones like Subic from Customs jurisdiction is a standing invitation for smuggling. The Subic Free Port authorities should be investigated immediately, because they are indispensable to car smuggling there,” the senator said.

In a resolution, Santiago called for a Senate probe on the following issues:

1. Placing free port zones under Customs jurisdiction with respect to motor vehicles, or prohibiting completely free port zones from importing motor vehicles.
   
   
2. Conducting an annual documentary inventory of motor vehicles admitted from abroad into free port zones, and matching it against an actual physical inventory of such vehicles remaining in the free port zone; if the latter is subtracted from the former, then the public will have an idea of the high degree of car smuggling in those free port zones.
   
   
3. Directing the Customs Commissioner to explain why there is lack of transparency in the setting of the floor prices of smuggled vehicles sold at auction, or in any event to explain why the present system allows smugglers to buy back their own smuggled vehicles.
   
   
4. Assessing the possible disruptive effect of the PASTF on the Bureau of Customs, on the theory that a task force under the Office of the President will only add one more layer of corruption to the smuggling process.
   
   
5. Seeking a halt to the destruction of smuggled vehicles, and amending the Customs Code, so that proceeds from smuggled car auctions shall go directly to such government agencies as the DSWD or the PGH.
   
   
6. Expressing the sense of the Senate that the perennial problem of car smuggling cannot be solved by establishing one more Task Force, but by limiting the present discretion enjoyed by Customs, Task Force, and Free Port officials to pick and choose the smuggling cases that they will expose, while turning a blind eye to other smuggling cases instigated by powerful crooks in government.

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Press Release

3 July 2007

MIRIAM, MANNY, SERGE: SENATE’S TOP 3 WORKERS

The Senate Bills and Index Service said that the highest number of bills and resolutions in the outgoing Thirteenth Congress was filed by Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Manny Villar, and Sergio Osmeña.

A bill is the first draft of a proposed law, while a resolution is a call for an inquiry in aid of legislation, also known as congressional investigation.

Senate records show that the top three hardest working senators filed the following bills and resolutions: Santiago – 658, Villar – 592, and Osmeña – 391.

The highest number of bills was filed by the following: Santiago – 513, Villar – 508, and Osmeña – 353.

However, the highest number of resolutions was filed by a different set of senators, also led by Santiago – 145, and include Francis Pangilinan – 108, and Jamby Madrigal – 94.

“The statistics are significant in evaluating Senate performance. But the most important factor is not quantifiable – the quality of the senator’s participation in the Senate debates. This can only be revealed by an assiduous tracking of the daily debates in the Senate Journal,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that significant statistics include not only the number of bills and resolutions filed, but also the number of bills sponsored during Senate debates, during which the senator who is chair of the committee sponsoring the bill answers queries from his colleagues.

“Contrary to the pompous pronouncements of some analysts, the senator’s voting record is not necessarily a measure of integrity, unlike in the United States, where the senators vote along party and ideological lines. Here, senators tend to vote according to the line that is popular at the time, or that will advance their personal interest, or the interest of a lobby group,” Santiago said.

But Santiago said that the number of bills and resolutions filed indicates that “at least the senator is doing his basic homework.”

The rest of the senators, in the order of the bills and resolutions filed, are: Senators Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada – 338, Luisa Ejercito Estrada – 256, Edgardo Angara – 226, Kiko Pangilinan – 192, Ramon Magsaysay Jr. – 188, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. – 184, Ralph Recto – 168, Juan Flavier – 164, Mar Roxas – 160, Richard Gordon – 151, Jamby Madrigal – 143, Rodolfo Biazon – 139, Ramon Revilla Jr. – 130, Franklin Drilon – 127, Pia Cayetano – 121, Alfredo Lim – 113, Panfilo Lacson – 105, Manuel Lapid – 105, Juan Ponce Enrile – 102, and Joker Arroyo – 55.

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