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The Philippines became the 177th member country of the International Criminal Court ("ICC") in 2011 after the Senate ratified the Rome Statute, the Court's founding treaty. The Statute has been ratified by 123 nations so far. On 19 March 2018, the ICC was officially notified by the United Nations that the Republic of the Philippines had, on 17 March 2018, deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Rome Statute. President Rodrigo Duterte claims to have pulled out of the ICC because the ICC allegedly "ignored due process" when it started a preliminary examination of allegations of extrajudicial killings in his administrative war on drugs.
According to the ICC, withdrawing from the Rome Statute is a sovereign decision that is subject to Article 127 of the Rome Statute. Under the same statute, a withdrawal becomes effective one year after the deposit of the notice of withdrawal to the UN Secretary-General. As to the effect of withdrawal, it has no impact on proceedings that are already on-going prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective. Thus, ICC retains its jurisdiction over crimes committed during the time the State was still a party to the Rome Statute.
On 19 March 2018, the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 7303 – An Act Instituting Absolute Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage in the Philippines ("Absolute Divorce Bill") with a vote of 134-57-2. The Absolute Divorce Bill seeks to provide spouses in "irremediably failed marriages" to secure an absolute divorce decree under limited grounds. It will also allow divorced spouses to marry again.
The grounds for the dissolution of marriage under the Absolute Divorce Bill include: (i) the existing grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code; (ii) the grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code; (iii) separation in fact of the spouses for at least five years; (iv) legal separation of the spouses by judicial decree for at least two years; (v) psychological incapacity under Article 36 of the Family Code; (vi) irreconcilable marital differences and conflicts; and (vii) gender reassignment of one of the spouses.
While the measure has support in the House, it has no counterpart in the Senate. In order for a law to be passed, both houses should pass similar measures.
On 12 March 2018, in light of the National Women's Day Month celebration, two lawmakers called on the House of Representatives for the immediate passage of the Expanded Maternity Leave Bill ("Bill"). House Committee on Women and Gender Equality Head Bernadette Herrera-Dy and Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat expressed hope that the Bill, which has languished in previous Congresses, would be approved in the 17th Congress.
The Bill proposes 100-day maternity leave for employees in the public and private sectors, with an option to extend for an additional period of 30 days without pay. The maternity leave shall be granted to employees in every instance of pregnancy, miscarriage, or abortion regardless of frequency. The Bill seeks to amend the existing law which allows women to take only 60 or 78 days of paid maternity leave. This is 38 days short of the 98 days stipulated in Convention 183 of the International Labor Organization, which the Philippines has committed to.
The Senate version of the Bill had been approved on third and final reading on 6 March 2017. Click here to read our previous update on this.
Once the House of Representatives version of the Bill is approved, it will go through the Conference Committee constituting members from both the House of Representative and the Senate for consolidation of the versions / threshing out of differences on any provision of the Bill. It will then be submitted to the President for his approval.
The Philippine Competition Commission ("PCC") has raised the thresholds for required notifications of mergers and acquisitions ("M&A").
Under the Philippine merger control regime, a transaction will trigger pre-merger reporting requirements to the PCC if they satisfy two tests: Size of Person and Size of Transaction. In a memorandum circular issued on 5 March 2018, the PCC raised the new thresholds to 5 Billion Pesos for the Size of Person and 2 Billion Pesos for the Size of Transaction, up from 1 Billion Pesos each.
The new thresholds took effect 15 days from 5 March 2018.
Click here to read our client update.
On 5 March 2018, the Senate, voting 19-0, approved resolutions adopting seven maritime treaties. The Department of Foreign Affairs ("DFA") announced that the Senate has concurred to the accession by the Philippines to five Conventions of the International Maritime Organization ("IMO"), and two Food and Agriculture Organization ("FAO") Agreements (collectively, the "Agreements"). These Agreements are: Anti-Fouling Systems Convention 2001; Protocol of 1997 to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978; Protocols of 1978 and 1988 to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 1974; Protocol of 1988 to the Load Line Convention 1966; and the FAO Compliance Agreement and Agreement on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated ("IUU") Fishing.
Senator Loren Legarda, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, emphasized in her sponsorship speech the importance for the Philippines to become a Party to the Agreements, which support the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals through the protection of the marine environment, dealing with climate change, and promotion of safe navigation and sustainable fishing practices.
DFA will deposit the Instruments of Ratification to the IMO and the FAO.
Please note that whilst the information in this Update is correct to the best of our knowledge and belief at the time of writing, it is only
intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and should not be treated as a substitute for specific professional advice.
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Gatmaytan Yap Patacsil Gutierrez
& Protacio (C&G Law)
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Contacts: Ben Dominic R YapManaging PartnerD +632 8894 0377F +632 8552 1978bdryap@cagatlaw.comJaime Renato B GatmaytanPartnerD +632 8894 0377F +632 8552 1978jrbgatmaytan@cagatlaw.comNorma Margarita B PatacsilPartnerD +632 8894 0377F +632 8552 1978nmbpatacsil@cagatlaw.comAnthony Mark A GutierrezPartnerD +632 8894 0377F +632 8552 1978amgutierrez@cagatlaw.com| Rajah & Tann Asia is a network of legal practices based in Asia. |
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