MANILA, Philippines – He may now be in favor of the Philippines’ withdrawal from the International Criminal Court but in 2011, then senator and now Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano voted for the adoption of the 2002 Rome Statute that created the ICC.

Cayetano, who was then the Senate minority leader, was among the 17 senators who voted in favor of the statute on August 23, 2011. Only then Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile opposed the measure.

Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee, and the late senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the ICC subcommittee, sponsored the measure and filed Committee Report No. 52 on August 4, 2011.

Cayetano, as ex-officio member of the committee, signed the initial report, recommending the Senate’s concurrence with former president Benigno Aquino III’s ratification of the statute. Only Enrile and former senator Lito Lapid, among all panel members, did not sign it.

Usually, a senator signs a committee report to express support for its contents.

If the senator has qualms or issues about certain parts of a committee report, he or she would usually write “with reservations” or “to interpellate,” beside his or her signature. Cayetano’s had no such notes.

According to the Senate Journal dated August 23, 2011, Cayetano manifested during the final vote that he “reserved the right to submit a written explanation.” The journal, however, does not include a copy of the statement.

Of the 17 who voted yes, 7 are incumbent senators:

• Aquilino Pimentel III
• Francis Escudero
• Gregorio Honasan
• Panfilo Lacson
• Francis Pangilinan
• Vicente Sotto III
• Antonio Trillanes IV

The rest are former senators, including: 

• Edgardo Angara
• Alan Peter Cayetano
• Pia Cayetano
• Jinggoy Estrada
• Teofisto Guingona III
• Ferdinand Marcos Jr
• Sergio Osmeña III
• Ramon Revilla Jr
• Miriam Defensor Santiago
• Manny Villar

On Wednesday, March 14, Cayetano backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to “immediately” withdraw from the ICC, calling it “a principled stand.” Cayetano cited the supposed use of human rights by nongovernmental organizations and politicians for politics.

In an interview with GMA News, Cayetano said withdrawing from the ICC is “not a way of evading” a probe into Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

Cayetano said that even if the Philippines withdraws from the ICC, the court still has jurisdiction over the things the Philippines did when it was a member. (READ: What the Rome Statute says about withdrawing from the Int’l Criminal Court)

He also said that withdrawing from the ICC “has been in informal discussions ever since,” even when he was still a senator during Duterte’s term. (READ: Can Senate stop PH’s withdrawal from ICC? Pacquiao blocked the resolution) – Rappler.com