Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Reconsider and reject the election of Miriam Santiago as ICC Judge


To the Honorable Administrators and Officials of the International Criminal Court:
We have taken the liberty of writing to you on behalf of concerned Filipino organizations and individuals in the Philippines and overseas who subscribe to and actively advocate the goal of competent, honest and progressive governance of our homeland, the Philippines.
We are respectfully bringing to your attention a serious matter that affects the image and reputation of the Philippines and, potentially, the image and reputation of the International Criminal Court.
As an independent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and as a court committed to the observance of the highest standards of fairness and due process, we respectfully assume that you require those you have elected to your roster of judges to meet the most stringent standards.
In addition to mastery of international jurisprudence and forensic skills, we assume that you also require a sound mind, emotional and psychological stability, unsullied integrity and incorruptibility, as well as patience, civility and impeccable decorum.
We submit that a person who is emotionally or psychologically unstable, prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, lacking in patience and empathy, ruthless with the feelings of fellow human beings, bereft of civility and uncaring about decorum does not deserve a place in your honorable court.
We further submit that an individual who has admitted to having publicly lied and who has demonstrated partiality, prejudice, lack of principles and questionable integrity as a public official does not deserve to be a judge, much less a judge of the International Criminal Court.
In this regard, we regret to inform you that such an undeserving individual has been elected to the International Criminal Court, in a lapse of good judgment on the part of the government of the Republic of the Philippines.
We are referring to Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a member of the Philippine Senate, who has been elected to the International Criminal Court and is shortly scheduled to take her oath of office.
We are bringing this matter to your attention for fear that you may construe her uncivilized behavior and her loose ethics as epitomizing the Filipino people. While, ironically, it should be a source of pride for Filipinos to have one of our own elected to your honorable court, we are embarrassed by the ill-considered nomination of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Far from representing the best of us, she typifies the worst. We fear that her presence in the International Criminal Court will make us the laughing stock of the world.
While it is entirely your prerogative to determine how to deal with Senator Defensor-Santiago, in light of these revelations, we respectfully submit that the onus will also be on your collective heads should she, as a judge of the International Criminal Court, display the kind of boorish and bizarre behavior that has been her trademark in the Philippine Senate and in other public fora.
We, therefore, respectfully submit that a reconsideration of her election to the International Criminal Court is called for and that her nomination be rejected upon reconsideration.
Please watch the attached.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Tingnan nyo naman ang mga nag comments dito me isang babae pa na parang hostes din pa comments-comments pa. The numbered of signatories here is just 4,700 around the globe compare to 92 millions filipinos.......... not even 0.000001% who hates Miriam... I support Mirian and not the spicies in the street

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