‘What’s new?’ Bato shrugs off International Criminal Court suspect tag

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald dela Rosa shrugged off the latest developments in the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against former president Rodrigo Duterte, wherein he is reportedly tagged as one of the suspects, as claimed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Dela Rosa said his name has been dragged into the ICC probe since 2016, while he was still chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and implementer of Duterte’s drug war.

“What’s new? My name was always mentioned since 2016,” Dela Rosa said. “Seems like a broken record that keeps on repeating the same lines.”

Trillanes posted the ICC update on Facebook and Twitter, with screenshots of a redacted copy of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) order, naming as “suspects” Dela Rosa and several police officers.

Media could not independently verify the confidential document, which allegedly tagged Dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde as suspects, both former PNP chiefs who carried out Duterte’s brutal narcotics crackdown that was marred by summary killings of drug suspects.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Trillanes said Duterte’s fellow suspects were elevated from being “persons of interest” to “principals by indispensable cooperation.”

In its report, the OTP said: “Under Article 54(1)a of the Rome Statute, the OTP is obliged to conduct investigations which cover all the facts and evidence. This includes providing individuals under suspicion of crimes to provide their version of events.”

“In this context, the OTP has reasonable grounds to believe that the following retired and serving members of the Philippine National Police have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP,” it added. 

Also tagged as suspects were former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and former PNP chief intelligence officer Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta.

The ICC stepped into the drug war as human rights groups complained that victims failed to get justice during the Duterte administration.

Human rights advocates said the drug war killed thousands of alleged drug personalities.

Dela Rosa urged critics of the drug war to just file cases against them in Philippine courts. He maintained that the Duterte administration did try to address the drug menace and save the lives of Filipinos from the use of illegal drugs.

Trillanes earlier said the ICC might issue an arrest order against Duterte, Dela Rosa and several others for the crimes committed during the implementation of the drug war.