Former Akbayan representative to represent opposition senators in ICC case

Former party-list representative Ibarra M. Gutierrez of Akbayan submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Aug. 29, a formal entry of appearance as counsel for opposition senators in their petition against the Philippine government’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The undersigned lawyer respectfully enters his appearance as counsel for Petitioners-Senators Francis N. Pangilinan, Franklin M. Drilon, Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV, Leila M. De Lima, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Antonio F. Trillanes IV in the above-entitled case,” read Mr. Gutierrez’s notice, referring to the petitions by the aforementioned senators and other parties against the Office of the Executive Secretary and its head, Salvador C. Medialdea, the Department of Foreign Affairs and its head, Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo, and Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. of the Permanent MIssion of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations.
Reuters reported that Mr. Duterte unilaterally withdrew in March from the ICC’s founding treaty, saying it skirted due process and presumption of his innocence and sought to portray him as a “ruthless and heartless violator of human rights.” Activists and families of eight victims of the Philippines’ drug war filed a complaint on Tuesday with the ICC, the news agency reported.