SOLICITOR General Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the Philippine government cannot stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) from interviewing persons of interest, including former and current police officers, in its ongoing investigation on the illegal drugs campaign of the former Duterte administration.
Guevarra made the statement even as he reiterated the government’s position that Manila has disengaged from the ICC in 2019 and, therefore, no longer has a legal duty to assist the international body’s prosecutor.
“The Philippine government cannot stop him (ICC prosecutor) from proceeding anyway he wants. He can directly interview persons of interest online, through the phone, by email or face to face, subject to the consent of these persons,” Guevarra said.
“But the ICC prosecutor cannot expect that the Philippine government will facilitate it for him,” he added.
Earlier, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, citing ICC documents, said the body has tagged former PNP chief and now senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and four other former and current ranking police officials as “suspects” in the ongoing probe.
Aside from Dela Rosa, Trillanes also said that 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 have been named as suspects.
Guevarra confirmed the ICC documents posted by Trillanes on his X (formerly Twitter) account, adding that it was supposed to be a confidential document.
But with Trillanes making it public, Guevara said he has no choice but to explain it.
He said that in its communication, the ICC prosecutor requested assistance from the Philippine government.
“Humihingi ng assistance ‘yung ICC prosecutor sa Philippine government para ma-facilitate ‘yung pag interview ng prosecutor dito sa limang tao na binabanggit doon sa communication (The ICC prosecutor asked for assistance from the Philippine government to facilitate the interview with these five people named in the communication),” he said.
He added such an interview is necessary before the prosecutor can apply for a warrant of arrest against the complaint’s respondents.
But Guevarra clarified that the five police officials “were not accused” but “under suspicion.”
The Philippines withdrew as a State party from the ICC’s Rome Statute effective March 17, 2019.
However, ICC Special Prosecutor Karim Khan has argued that contrary to Manila’s position, the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC when the alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings related to Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs occurred.
Khan stressed the scope of the probe covers alleged crimes from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
In January 2023, the ICC authorized the reopening of the inquiry after it was suspended in November 2021.
The ICC Appeals Chamber in July of the same year also junked Manila’s plea blocking the resumption of the drug war inquiry.
At the House of Representatives, an administration lawmaker yesterday said the findings of the Committee on Human Rights could be used as evidence in the ICC probe.
“The outcome of this investigation can be used in filing in different courts and can be used also as evidence in the ICC,” Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety, said after former senator Leila De Lima testified before the human rights panel last Monday and tagged former President Rodrigo Duterte as the supposed mastermind of the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that were committed in relation to the bloody drugs war.
De Lima told the panel that there is “no doubt in my mind that former President Rodrigo Duterte is the mastermind, as he was the instigator and inducer of the drug war killings.”
Government data shows that over 6,200 drug suspects died in anti-narcotics operations from June 2016 to November 2021, but human rights organizations estimate the death toll could be more than 20,000, affecting predominantly poor communities.
Fernandez expressed willingness to cooperate with international bodies by providing them with the committee’s findings even if doing so would diverge from President Marcos Jr.’s stance of non-cooperation with the ICC.
“We are an independent body, and we are discussing this thoroughly. It will be dependent on the chairman (Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante) what to do with the committee report.
And that can be used by anybody, particularly those victims of the (war on drugs),” Fernandez said.
De Lima has also pointed out the ICC’s concerns regarding the conduct of local investigations, particularly its assessment that local processes lacked “tangible, concrete, and progressive investigative steps.”
Abante expressed disappointment over the non-participation in the hearing of Duterte and Dela Rosa, who was the chief of the PNP when Duterte launched his administration’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs.
Abante also responded to Dela Rosa’s statement questioning the authority of the committee to investigate: “Well, let me tell the good senator, you’re a senator — we have the right according to our rules. You have been interviewed in the media, how I wish that you can be here and make it clear to us.”
He also cited past statements, including that of Police Col. Jovie Espenido, one of the poster boys of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, who admitted human rights violations were committed during his tenure.
Abante also referenced Dela Rosa’s public admissions of such violations during his time as PNP chief, which he then called “collateral damage.” — With Wendell Vigilia
