Miriam’s Handicaps
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has announced her bid for one of the five seats in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ principal judicial organ. However, a veteran diplomat told the media that the feisty senator has at least two handicaps when she’s considered in the elections to the ICJ in New York in late 2008.
One, President Arroyo’s candidate doesn’t speak French. The official languages of the ICJ are English and French. Although ability to speak French is not required of candidates, French-speaking candidates have the edge in getting the support of influential countries and voting blocs.
Santiago’s other handicap, according to the diplomat, is more basic. To win a seat in the ICJ, she must get absolute majority votes in both the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
The question on the mind of the diplomat is: Does anyone think the Chinese will vote for Santiago after she insulted them in a recent Senate hearing on the national broadband network (NBN) contract by saying that the Chinese invented corruption? (Santiago later apologized to the Chinese Ambassador, and her apology was accepted.)
If Santiago does get a seat, she will be the second Filipino to sit in the ICJ. The first was former Supreme Court Chief Justice Cesar Bengzon, who sat in the ICJ from 1967 to 1976. If elected, Santiago would be entitled to an annual salary of P7.6 million (US$170,080), or roughly 18 times the salary of a Philippine senator.
