Miriam nominated to int'l court, would leave Senate if chosen

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Monday said she is willing to leave the Senate if elected to the International Court of Justice, after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced her nomination earlier in the day. "I'm very happy about it although I know that would be extremely difficult because I'd be representing not myself but a developing country," Santiago said. The ICJ, founded in 1945, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It rules on legal disputes submitted by states and also gives advisory opinions on legal questions from duly-authorized international agencies. The ICJ is comprised of 15 judges who serve nine-year terms. They are elected by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list submitted by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Asia is entitled to a seat in the ICJ when Jordan’s term expires in 2009. Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee and a former judge, said she would have no problem leaving the Senate if she is elected as judge of the international court. "The election (to the ICJ) would be next year and the term would begin in 2009. My term (as senator) expires 2010, so I would have served my constituency," Santiago said. The senator said that candidates from developing countries must work twice as hard because nominees from developed countries have greater clout. "So basically this is a ball game on the court of (Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Alberto) Romulo – how congenial and amiable his working relationship with other foreign ministers," she said. Mrs Arroyo announced Santiago’s nominated during her speech in the opening ceremony of the 40th Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. Santiago was also an unsuccessful contender for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court last year. If Santiago makes it, she will be only the second Filipino in the ICJ, after Chief Justice Cesar Bengzon, who served in the ICJ from 1967 to 1976 and was nominated to the post by Mrs Arroyo’s late father, former President Diosdado Macapagal. -GMANews.TV