JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the Philippine government will not block or stop the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) from serving any arrest warrant in connection with the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on the deaths and abuses associated with the illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration.
“We are not in the business of blocking or stopping any movement at Interpol, whose job is to fight international crime,” Remulla told reporters when asked what the government will do if an arrest warrant from the Interpol is issued against individuals in connection with the ICC investigation.
He explained that while the Philippines has withdrawn from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, it remains a part and member of the Interpol.
Remulla’s statement came a day after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that the ICC prosecutor has asked the Interpol to place Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and other current and former police officials on its “blue notice.”
A “blue notice,” according to the Interpol’s website, seeks to collect additional information and data about an individual’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
Aside from Dela Rosa, Trillanes also named former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Romeo Caramat Jr., former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and former PNP Intelligence Officer Eleazar Mata as among those that have been named as suspects in the ICC probe.
Earlier this week, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the Philippine government cannot stop the ICC from interviewing persons of interest, including former and current police officers, in its ongoing investigation on the drug war.
Meanwhile, Albayalde said he will cooperate with the ICC probe only if the DOJ would allow him.
In a television interview, Albayalde said: “Yes, I’m ready to face the ICC… if sanctioned by the government, if allowed and sanctioned by no less than the Department of Justice.”
“I will let myself (to be interviewed) if and only, if the Department of Justice tell us and if there is an order directly coming from our Department of Justice,” he added.
He also said that if it is the position of Guevarra that the government cannot stop the ICC from proceeding with the probe or interviewing them, this only means that “it is up to us if we will cooperate or not.”
Albayalde, who served as PNP chief from April 2018 to October 2019, stressed that it was not the policy of the PNP during the Duterte administration to kill people involved in the illegal drugs trade.
He also said former President Duterte did not give any order to the PNP to kill people involved in the illegal drugs trade.
“We cannot follow unlawful orders, we follow PNP operational procedures… As I’ve said before and I will say again, the former President did not give such order whether directly or indirectly,” he said.
“We are law enforcers,” said Albayalde, adding that the police force is “pro-life.”
He also said the PNP has not condoned policemen who have abused their authority in the war against drugs, noting that criminal and administrative charges have been filed against them.
“Our justice system is perfectly working here in our country,” said Albayalde.
Likewise, Albayalde criticized former Trillanes for sharing ICC documents that tagged him and the other police officials as suspects in the ICC investigation.
“First of all, I would like to ask the question on what authority does former Sen. Trillanes have from the ICC to publicly post a highly classified document,” said Albayalde.
“There has be something here or probably he is using the ICC as political tool for his personal political interest,” he said of Trillanes who has expressed interest in running for mayor in Caloocan City during next year’s elections. — With Victor Reyes
