Saturday, November 08, 2008 RP loses international court bid
A LOSS for the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a gain for the Philippines is how Malacañang views Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago losing her bid for the last seat in ICJ to Somalia's Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf who won in the final round of balloting.
Asked if the Philippines could consider it a loss, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said: "That's one way of putting it." He stressed that Santiago would have been a good and valuable member of the ICJ.
"I think Senator Miriam is probably more needed here in the country, that could be the beneficial effect of a defeat in the balloting," he added.
He said the Philippines would just have to accept and respect the decision of the United Nation (UN) members.
He added that the Filipino nation was behind Santiago, and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo even campaigned for her whenever she meets with members of the diplomatic community.
"But the election balloting result showed that her (Santiago) candidacy has fallen short of the required number to be able to get a seat and so we just have to submit to the collective decision of the members of the UN," Dureza said.
The Philippine Mission to the UN said Santiago did a good fight that "forced voting to go on for the entire day." (JMR/Sunnex)
