The names “Dela Rosa” and “Aguirre” were mentioned in the heavily-redacted Pre-Confirmation Brief submitted by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) dated Sept. 22 and made public on Sept. 23 in relation to the crimes against humanity charges filed against former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The first names of Dela Rosa and Aguirre were not mentioned in the 78-page brief, but the document referred to Dela Rosa as the former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa was the first PNP chief during the Duterte administration.
“Dela Rosa promised that they would ‘immediately’ implement a ‘scaled up’ version of the Davao model. If someone fights back, they’ll die. If nobody fights back, we’ll make them fight back.’ ‘Produce blood. Instill fear’,” the document said.
It said that on the very same day that Dela Rosa was appointed PNP chief, he issued a pre-drafted plan formally launching the anti-illegal drugs campaign nationwide, which was dubbed “Project Double Barrel,” in “express pursuance of Duterte’s campaign promise.”
“Dela Rosa told reporters ‘This is really about killing in the name of drugs. So you drug lords out there, get ready because I’ll crush you’,” it added.
As regards Aguirre, the document quoted him as saying that the “new administration’s programme was to do everything to stop drugs, crimes, and corruption — we will choose to kill these drug lords.”
The document, however, did not mention Aguirre’s first name.
Lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre was Duterte’s first secretary of the Department of Justice.
Last year, the OTP tagged Dela Rosa and four other retired and current police officers as “suspects” for alleged involvement in the deaths of thousands of people in Duterte’s drug war.
