00:56.4
And potentially rejoining the International Criminal Court.
01:00.2
This is what we're hearing from the news right now.
01:03.3
Before I talk about Professor Jay dealing with Robin Hood Padilla and Dr. Jay Batumbakal
01:10.4
talking about the UN clause in China, can we go a little bit, rewind natin ng konti?
01:15.5
Kasi Jay, I remember in one of our conversations, which I think did very well,
01:19.6
especially mong loyalist siyata for understandable reason,
01:22.3
we discussed how Marcos Sr. administration,
01:26.4
played a very important role in bringing smaller archipelagic countries together
01:31.2
so that international law is on our side.
01:33.7
Can you give us a little bit background on that?
01:35.6
Because our current president happens to have the same name,
01:37.8
and it's a namesake son.
01:38.9
I just want to say that, you know,
01:40.7
even the Marcoses have a tradition of having the international law
01:44.4
on the side of weaker countries.
01:47.7
And that advocacy is what resulted in a major change in international law.
01:57.4
there was no law on the concept of the archipelagic state,
02:01.7
or archipelagic waters,
02:04.2
or the unity of land and water as a nation.
02:07.2
Without that advocacy,
02:09.1
the Philippines would basically be just a scattered collection of islands,
02:12.6
and all of our entire island waters,
02:15.3
beyond 12 nautical miles,
02:17.2
which includes the Sulu Sea,
02:19.1
and large parts of the water sea between Luzon and the Visayas Islands,
02:24.2
they would be high seas,
02:25.7
meaning they would be,
02:26.4
open to all nations.
02:28.5
We would have no exclusive rights or authorities over everything,
02:32.5
anything that happens within those inter-island waters.
02:37.0
the Philippines took the correct position
02:41.4
in advocating the recognition of our sovereignty over these inter-island waters.
02:49.5
it pushed international law in the direction that we now find,
02:52.2
in the direction of where we find ourselves now,
02:56.3
other nations recognize our sovereignty over these inter-island waters.
03:01.9
they also recognize that we're not a scattered set of islands,
03:05.3
separated by high seas,
03:07.1
but we're one political and geographic unit,
03:11.1
we're an archipelagic state.
03:12.7
And it is on the basis of that unified entity that we now measure as well,
03:18.5
all the maritime zones,
03:19.6
which accord to us vast resources.
03:26.2
that is definitely a contribution of the Philippines to international law in general.
03:32.0
And that's on account of the advocacies that the senior government,
03:37.6
his predecessors,
03:42.3
as well as the administration before him,
03:45.2
because remember the,
03:46.6
essentially the advocacy for this started 1956.
03:49.2
And it was basically continued.
03:56.2
a thread throughout our foreign policy from the fifties onwards until the eighties and now end up to now.
04:03.7
So you're saying it's,
04:04.9
it's in the DNA of our Philippine diplomacy,
04:08.5
fighting for international law because internationalize the best equalizer,
04:15.0
I think both of us admit that we have our concerns with,
04:18.0
the economic legacy,
04:19.1
the human right legacy of the Marcos regime,
04:21.6
the Marcos senior regime.
04:22.6
But I think on foreign policy,
04:24.0
all of us are in agreement that he indeed had,
04:25.9
had a very significant contribution for our national interest,
04:28.7
particularly in West Philippine sea,
04:30.0
particularly bringing smaller countries together.
04:33.4
I'm not surprised that the sun is moving in the right direction,
04:36.5
at least on the foreign policy front.
04:38.0
Mahabang usapan ni mga domestic politics.
04:39.7
We can talk about that in a separate,
04:45.8
going back again to this ICC,
04:48.6
just to remind for people,
04:49.7
not as an expert on ICC or constitutional law expert,
04:52.8
but as just a lawyer,
04:54.0
as someone who teaches at UP College,
04:56.8
what is your understanding of the death,
04:58.5
the withdrawing from the ICC without,
05:00.5
without the concurrence of the Senate?
05:02.1
I recently had an interview with some senators on this issue,
05:05.0
which people will watch later on.
05:06.9
Some of them saying,
05:07.8
saying the measure sketchy,
05:09.0
because you want,
05:10.9
if the Senate had a say in treaty,
05:14.3
then the Senate maybe should have a say on,
05:18.5
So even the rejoining of the ICC is a bit complicated and shrouded in that
05:22.4
legal uncertainty.
05:23.7
What is your understanding of the issue?
05:27.0
the Duterte administration basically took advantage of a gap in the law
05:32.9
because the constitution didn't explicitly mention anything about,
05:44.8
or withdrawing from these,
05:46.8
despite the fact that they were,
05:49.6
concurred in by the Senate.
05:59.8
and so that makes the process of returning to it,
06:04.2
probably even harder because now,
06:06.3
we're going to have to go,
06:08.4
we may have to go through another concurrence process for something that should have already been done,
06:14.3
or that was already done before.
06:16.1
And so there's going to be a new debate,
06:18.3
a new round of debates and discussions,
06:21.6
and if the Senate is,
06:24.7
either polarized or the Senate doesn't see far enough and doesn't see that this this transcends the domestic politics of administrations now and it's something that is a concern of the nation as a whole therefore should be beyond the domestic politics of and and party politics now then we might end up in a situation where we were unable to to go back to that particular.
06:57.3
I want to push you on this,
07:00.3
It's because you dealt with the Senate,
07:02.4
you dealt with Senators Robin Hood Padilla.
07:05.1
We know for a fact that some of the Senators,
07:07.2
at least two of them themselves could be on the ICC list and potentially face warrants of arrest.
07:13.3
considering that,
07:14.4
not an insignificant number of Senators may be more sympathetic to the position of the Duterte camp.
07:20.4
Some of them have their own neck in this game or skin in this game.
07:24.7
I think it's quite fanciful to expect the Senate to be,
07:29.0
professional or look at the national.
07:32.0
nagugulangan ako,
07:35.4
ang dali lang makalabas ang Pilipinas noong panahon ng Digong.
07:40.2
yung pagbabalik natin,
07:41.9
ang daming veto players.
07:43.9
If it were so easy for Duterte to get it out,
07:45.9
then it should be up to Marcos himself to decide it.
07:48.7
kung baba ba ito sa Senado,
07:50.5
yung mga pro-DDS,
07:53.7
drug war ni Digong,
07:54.9
they're gonna fight,
07:56.6
till the end of times,
07:58.4
ang gulo na itong situation na ito.
08:02.3
it's a simple case of us not having had any prior experiences
08:08.0
Walang president yung withdrawal,
08:10.5
walang president yung rejoining.
08:13.8
and because of that,
08:15.2
The law is not clear on that,
08:17.6
it will be debatable.
08:18.6
And the fact now that you have actual senators who might be on,
08:23.7
on trial for that,
08:25.6
that adds to the complexity.
08:28.3
di umano'y ng pro-DDS.
08:29.9
Let's just be clear.
08:32.7
Who might be on trial.
08:35.2
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:36.7
You're being too polite again.
08:39.1
just a side note.
08:40.9
Just to remind everyone,
08:42.3
what was your back and forth with,
08:43.8
with Senator Robin Hood Padilla?
08:47.8
kasi yung mga nanonood,
08:50.7
relax ka lang eh,
08:51.7
Prof. Batumbakal.
08:52.8
is it the professor in you
08:55.5
or is it the bataw at bakal in you?
08:57.5
what's going on there?
08:59.8
I had the advantage of a mute button
09:05.2
Mini-mute na lang.
09:10.0
I was on the screen.
09:12.6
diyan laki-laki nung,
09:14.3
probably nung screen
09:16.0
any little twitch,
09:18.4
I have to restrain myself.
09:21.3
you also have to,
09:22.8
that's part of the training eh.
09:24.6
you just really have to
09:25.7
have the patience to
09:26.9
let a lot of bull
09:31.2
Poker face na poker face.
09:33.8
napikon siguro ako.
09:35.8
baka naman gusto mong mag-research.
09:41.1
respect for your patience,
09:48.7
bait-bait mo talaga
09:52.8
do you have an advice
09:54.3
for other experts
09:55.5
who will be soon invited
10:03.3
Ano nga yung mantra
10:09.5
Bear and forbear.
10:10.8
Medyo stoic na tayo.
10:12.5
balikan natin itong topic natin.
10:15.3
this is how I do it,
10:16.2
I always put some dark humor
10:17.6
into conversation
10:19.1
these are very technical.
10:20.7
These are very high-stakes issues.
10:22.3
kung walang humor,
10:22.8
baka maboard yung mga
10:24.7
But I think they also understand
10:25.8
na there's some element
10:27.7
in the things we're saying.
10:28.9
Pero di umano eh.
10:32.1
Medyo sangkot dito sa ICC na yan.
10:33.8
Just to be fair about this.
10:36.3
I'm not gonna ask you about
10:37.2
the Maricel Soriano PD.
10:41.3
leaks na Marites.
10:42.3
Don't worry about it.
10:44.3
itong issue na ito.
10:49.3
is it conceivable
10:50.1
na the Philippines
10:54.1
West Philippine Sea issue
10:55.4
if it doesn't come clean
10:57.3
on the ICC issue?
10:58.2
The reason I'm saying this
10:59.6
we had Justice Carpio
11:01.6
earlier in our podcast
11:03.1
and he was suggesting
11:06.6
additional arbitration cases
11:08.1
to resolve the status
11:09.5
of Scarborough Shoal.
11:10.9
I had an interview
11:12.0
Senator Antonio Trillanes
11:13.6
whose position is,
11:15.2
no one is stopping us
11:17.7
to Scarborough Shoal
11:18.6
because technically speaking
11:20.1
in complete control