Roque loses bid for International Law Commission seatBagong Alyansang Makabayan – USA stages a protest against presidential spokesperson Harry Roque outside the United Nations headquarters in New York while member-states of the international body cast their vote for candidates to the International Law Commission. MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesperson failed to clinch a seat at the International Law Commission, garnering the least number of votes among 11 candidates from Asia-Pacific states for the eight seats available on the panel for representatives coming from the region. Roque, a former human rights lawyer whose candidacy for a seat at the United Nations expert panel that develops and codifies international law was met with fierce opposition from various sectors, managed to get only 87 votes from the 191 states that voted. Less than a week before the elections to the ILC, 152 lawyers wrote to nearly 200 Permanent Missions and Member States at the United Nations General Assembly to register their "vehement objection" to Roque’s candidacy for the international law panel. Outside the legal profession, bloggers, content creators, artists, influencers and Filipino social media users also wrote to the ILC and other representatives to the United Nations to signify their opposition to Roque’s bid for a seat in the panel.

Source: Philippine Star November 13, 2021 20:36 UTC