THE Department of the Interior Local Government (DILG) will abide by the directive of President Marcos Jr. not to cooperate or help in the investigation being conducted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the alleged human rights abuses committed during the implementation of the illegal drugs campaign of the previous administration.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. made the statement yesterday, a day after the President declared that the government will “not lift a finger” to assist in the ICC probe.
“We will follow the lead of the President,” Abalos said in a briefing in Malacañang, adding that the DILG and the agencies and organizations under it, such as the Philippine National Police and local government units (LGUs), will obey the President’s order.
The President on Tuesday maintained the ICC no longer has no jurisdiction over the Philippines following its withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019.
Marcos also said that he considers the international court a “threat to Philippine sovereignty.”
Abalos said that if the ICC officially communicates with the DILG and seek its help, he will decline the request and inform the international court of the Philippine government’s position.
To date, Abalos said no ICC investigator or official has communicated with him or other DILG executives.
“As far as our office is concerned, the DILG is, I have no knowledge about this, there is no communication with them, nothing at all,” he said.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has disclosed that ICC investigators supposedly visited the country last month and have already completed their investigation and evidence gathering on the alleged human rights violations committed during the war on drugs campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The ICC is investigating complaints of abuses against Duterte and his drug campaign, which human rights groups alleged resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug suspects.
The inquiry has prompted the former president to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019.
The ICC, however, it continued to have jurisdiction over the country because the alleged killings happened before the withdrawal took effect. In September 2021, it opened a formal inquiry on the drug war, which was suspended two months later. The investigation resumed in January 2023.
In November last year, Marcos announced that his administration is studying the possible return of the Philippines to the ICC.
VP SARA
Vice President Sara Duterte said her lawyers are prepared to defend her in case she is named as a secondary respondent to the crimes against humanity case that her father is facing before the ICC.
The younger Duterte said she has yet to receive any document naming her as a co-respondent in the ICC’s investigation into her father’s bloody drug war on drugs, which is being blamed for the summary executions of drugs suspects and the deaths of many innocent civilians, including children.
“Wala pa ‘kong natatanggap na document na secondary respondent ako sa ICC but in any event, handa naman na ang mga lawyers na gumawa ng hakbang kung sakali man na mayroong ganon (I haven’t received any document naming me as a respondent of the ICC case but in any event, my lawyers are prepared to make a move if ever there’s such a development),” she told reporters in Pasig City.
The Vice President said she has not yet met and spoken with the former president but “I’m sure he knows what to do, he’s a lawyer as well.”
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa yesterday the possibility of being jailed in the Hague because of the continuing investigation of the ICC is a scary idea for him not because he is guilty of the allegations against him but for fear that his grandchildren may not be able to visit him.
“Hindi ako takot na sabihin mo na meron akong na-commit na kasalanan. No! Takot ko na makulong dahil kawawa ‘yung mga apo ko. Hindi ko na makikita (I am not afraid because I [allegedly] committed a crime. No! I am afraid to go to jail [in the Hague] because I cannot see my grandchildren anymore),” Dela Rosa said in an interview with ANC.
In saying that the ICC has completed its evidence gathering, Trillanes has said that warrants of arrest against Duterte and Dela Rosa, who was the police chief when the drug was implemented, may be issued “very, very soon.”
Dela Rosa said that If Trillanes’ information is to be believed, he and the former president will likely be detained in the Hague where the ICC is based.
“Buti kung makulong ka dito sa Pilipinas. Eh ikukulong ka doon sa the Hague, ano ngayon?
Paano makakabisita mga apo ko? They will grow up lolo-less. So, kawawa naman mga apo ko. I love my apos so much (It would be better if we will be jailed here in the Philippines, but if we will be jailed in the Hague? What happens then? How can my grandchildren visit me? I pity my grandchildren because they will grow up without a grandfather. I love my grandchildren so much),” he said.
The ICC, in its website, states that it does not have its own police force or enforcement body which can implement arrest warrants and is just relying on the cooperation of member-countries for support, especially in making arrests, transfer of arrested persons to the ICC detention facility in the Hague, freezing a suspect’s assets, and for enforcing sentences.
Dela Rosa also said another reason why he is afraid of being arrested by the ICC is that not all who are put behind bars are guilty as charged.
“Ikaw, hindi ka ba takot na mapasok sa kulungan? Bakit, lahat ba ng nakukulong ngayon ay talagang may kasalanan? (Are you not afraid of going to jail? Are all those in jail really guilty?),” he asked.
‘DESTABILIZER’
Dela Rosa said Trillanes’ pronouncement that ICC investigators entered the country last December is supposedly the former senator’s way of “destabilizing the relationship of the Dutertes with Malacañang.”
“Agitator ‘yan si Trillanes (Trillanes is an agitator). He wants to destabilize the relationship between the Dutertes and Malacañang para magkagulo tayo dito (to create trouble),” he said.
In response to Dela Rosa’s statement, Trillanes said the former police chief should “just man up and face the consequences of his actions.”
“Bato dela Rosa as PNP chief implemented the EJK (extrajudicial killings) policy of Duterte.
Libu-libo ang mga pinatay na mga ordinaryong Pilipino pero ang mga drug lords na sina Michael Yang at Peter Lim, protektado nila. Sa ICC na lang siya magpaliwanag
(Bato dela Rosa as PNP chief implemented the extrajudicial killings policy of Duterte.
Thousands of ordinary Filipinos were killed but drug lords like Michael Yang and Peter Lim were given protection. Tell him to just give his explanation to the ICC),” Trillanes said in a text message to the media.
Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, Kabataan), a member of the Makabayan bloc, likewise said Dela Rosa “should be brave enough to face any possible charges or be held accountable.”
“Pa-victim masyado (He’s playing the victim card too much),” he said. “Swerte pa nga ni Sen. Bato dahil binibigyan pa siya ng due process at pagkakataong magpaliwanag, ‘di tulad ng libo-libong mga Pilipino, lalo mga kabataan, na pinatay sa pekeng gyera kontra droga dahil lang pinaghinalaan ng mga pulis (Sen. Bato is lucky to be given due process and a chance to explain unlike the thousands of Filipinos, especially the youth, who were killed in the fake war on drugs just because they were suspected by the police).”
“Paranoid siguro si Sen. Bato kung nagsimula na ang imbestigasyon kasi alam niyang mabigat, marami at di maitatanggi ang ebidensiya laban sa kanya at sa kanyang amo na si Rodrigo Duterte (Sen. Bato is probably getting paranoid that the investigation has begun because he knows that the evidence against him and his boss Duterte are strong, numerous and undeniable),” Manuel added. — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
