Philippine senators, EU lawmakers talk human rights, ICC in ‘intense’ meeting
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine senators and European Union lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss human rights issues in the country, including the investigation by the International Criminal Court into the alleged killings in the “war on drugs” which supposedly turned the talks “intense.”
EU Parliament member Hannah Neumann said in a media briefing that they reiterated their body’s concern over the alleged extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs,” which Sen. Francis Tolentino answered by bringing up cases of human trafficking of Filipinos in Europe which he said were human rights violations as well.
But Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said the meeting became “intense” when one Spanish lawmaker, likely Miguel Urbán Crespo, was supposedly “angered” by the resolution filed by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada that asked the Senate to oppose the ICC probe into the alleged crimes against humanity committed in the “war on drugs.”
Fresh from the meeting, Dela Rosa said during a hearing that the Spanish lawmaker “kind of raised his voice,” but he talked back.
“I told them, ‘You know my good friend, honorable Spaniard, you know, the Philippines was conquered, enslaved by the Spaniard for more than three centuries, for over 300 years, and now that we have our freedom, we have our own sovereignty as a nation, we hope that other countries would respect our sovereignty as a nation,’” Dela Rosa said.
He also accused the members of the EU Parliament of “trying to impose their standards upon us.”
Agree to disagree
However, Tolentino and Neumann, who headed their respective delegations, had a different recollection of the events that unfolded during the meeting.
Neumann said in a media interview after their meeting at the Senate that “it was not tense, but it was an open and critical discussion that in the end was more constructive than tense.”
Tolentino, meanwhile, sought to clarify Dela Rosa’s remarks and said that the Spanish lawmaker only had an interpreter which is why it appeared that he raised his voice.
“They really need to raise their voice because they do not know how to speak in English,” Tolentino said in Filipino. “So the interpreter would pass the mic, they would make their voice louder.”
Aside from Estrada, Sen. Robinhood Padilla also filed a resolution in the Senate opposing the ICC probe.
Philippine senators and European lawmakers appeared to have agreed to disagree on their positions on the ICC investigation on the “war on drugs,” with Neumann recognizing that some legislators in the upper chamber differ on the probe.
“We support the ICC and we see this as a potential to support the investigations into the killings. We clearly understand that at least the senators we have met right now see this differently. Well, this is exactly part of the discussions we are having amongst each other,” she said.
Tolentino said European lawmakers respected their views, “but as to whether they will accept that within their own perspective, that’s a different matter.”
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