The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had asked the International Police (Interpol) to put Senator Ronald Dela Rosa and other former and current police officials on “blue notice” amid the ICC’s probe into the drug war, according to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Trillanes posted on the social media platform X an alleged confidential ICC document tagging Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police officials Oscar Albayalde, Edilberto Leonardo, Eleazar Mata, and former CIDG chief and current Northern Luzon commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. as “suspects.”
Dela Rosa, meanwhile, dismissed Trillanes’s claim, saying: “What’s new? My name has always been mentioned since 2016. Seems like a broken record that keeps on repeating the same lines.”
The ICC prosecutor can interview persons of interest in its investigation of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier said.
He said there are many ways by which the prosecutor can engage witnesses and suspects alike.
Guevarra said the document posted by Trillanes was supposed to be confidential but Trillanes’ revelation forced him to make an explanation.
“The ICC prosecutor was requesting assistance from the Philippine government to facilitate the interview of the prosecutor on these five people named in the communication,” he said.
However, Guevarra said the Philippines has disengaged from the ICC and has no legal duty to lend the body any assistance.
“The ICC prosecutor cannot expect that the Philippine government will facilitate for him,” he said.
Dela Rosa dismissed Trillanes’ post, saying there was nothing new to it. Albayalde, on the other hand, said he is ready to face the ICC.
Government records show that some 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration but human rights organizations say that the actual number is closer to 30,000.
At the lower house, Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez said the findings of the House Committee on Human Rights could serve as evidence in the ICC’s probe into alleged crimes against humanity by Duterte and his close associates.
