A Panel in the House of Representatives has recommended for approval a resolution supporting Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s call for the Philippines to withdraw from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The panel claims that the IPU has stepped out of its boundaries by interfering in the Philippines’ judicial processes.
The House Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, led by Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson, is expected to submit for plenary adoption its approved House Resolution 2270, or the “resolution expressing support of the House of Representatives for the withdrawal of the membership of the Philippines from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.”
Before the resolution’s adoption, Singson started the meeting with a brief history of the IPU, saying the Philippines’ membership in that organization started in 1947.
He said that after suspensions due to the dissolution of Congresses in 1973 and in 1986, the Philippines was finally readmitted in October of 1987 during the 78th IPU conference in Bangkok, with then-Senate President Jovito Salonga as president of the Philippine National Group.
Singson described the IPU as an international organization of parliaments that supports the objectives and efforts of the United Nations and works in close cooperation with it.
“Together with the UN, it works to advance specific issues through joint cooperation activities, publications, and meetings,” he said.
The resolution was filed by Minority Leader Danilo Suarez after Arroyo recommended the withdrawal of the Philippine membership from the IPU.
Singson said last October, the House of Representatives attended the 139th IPU Assembly in Geneva with the Speaker leading the delegation composed of seven members.
“During the preparations, the Speaker personally instructed the members to ensure that all conferences that will take up issues and concerns of national interest must be covered,” Singson said.
He said that, as always, the House, true to its commitment to the ideals of the IPU, was an active participant in the efforts of IPU and a supportive member of its objectives and goals.
“However, after the conference, a statement by the Speaker on the withdrawal of the Philippine membership from the IPU headlined the news and immediately after,” Singson said.
In his sponsorship remarks, Suarez sad the IPU was created with a vision of protecting and strengthening democracy and building strong national parliaments that can deliver on issues like health, sustainable development, peace, security and many more.
He said that in October 2018, the IPU released a resolution on its investigation of the criminal case filed against Senator Leila de Lima.
Suarez said the IPU also issued statements recommending the intervention on the case of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
“Clearly the IPU stepped out of its boundaries with its interference in the country’s judicial processes which runs counter to the principle of state sovereignty,” Suarez said.
He cited a provision in the 1987 Constitution saying the state shall pursue an independent foreign policy wherein its relations with other states shall primarily consider national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest and the right to self-determination.
“In fact, Speaker Arroyo recommended the withdrawal of the Philippine membership from the IPU after it expressed its intention to visit the country to investigate further on the cases of the said government officials,” Suarez said.