August 15 - 16, 2006 | Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, Manila

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), together with the Philippines Coalition for the ICC and the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), Asia and the Pacific organized an Asian Parliamentarians Consultation on the Universality of the International Criminal Court held in the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines (Senate and House of Representatives) in Manila on 15-16 August 2006.

Legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam discussed prospects for advancing the ICC dossier in their respective countries and strategies to increase the participation of Asia to the ICC system.

The following prominent legislators participated in this important regional event:

• Rep. Jose De Venecia (The Philippines), Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member of PGA

• Sen. Manuel Villar (The Philippines), President of the Senate,

• Sen. Franklin M. Drilon (The Philippines), former President of the Senate,

• Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales (The Philippines), Co-Chair of the Philippine Coalition for the ICC

• Rep. Lorna C. Silverio (Philippines), Chair of the Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations & Diplomacy

• Rep. Mayumi Moriyama (Japan), Former Minister of Justice and President of the Organizing Committee of the PGA 28th Annual Forum and Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law (Tokyo, 4-5 Dec. 2006),

• Sen. Yoriko Kawaguchi (Japan), Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs

• Sen. Alain Destexhe (Belgium), President of Parliamentarians for Global Action

• Amb. Jan De Kok, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.

The First Vice-President of the ICC, Judge Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana), presented a key-note address to the Consultation and responded to a number of questions of lawmakers on the mandate and activities of the Court. The meeting ended with the consensus adoption of an Action Plan, which was welcomed by Legislators as a useful and concrete tool to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of the Working Group of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law on the Universality of the Rome Statute in Asia.

Worthy of particular note, the Senate of the Philippines acknowledged the Consultations' participants in its formal Session of 15 August 2006 and, on the same occasion, unanimously adopted Resolution 171 tabled by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Member of PGA), which requests the Executive to transmit the Rome Statute (signed by The Philippines on 28 December 2000) to the Senate for its consideration and approval of ratification, as required by the Constitution of the Philippines.