MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government will not obstruct the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor from interviewing the five newly identified suspects linked to alleged crimes committed during the Duterte administration's bloody anti-narcotics campaign.
This has been confirmed by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra in an interview with OneNews’ “The Big Story” on Monday evening saying that the government will not “get in the way” of the ICC prosecutor.
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“The ICC prosecutor can do that voluntarily by himself, directly talking to these five people,” he said.
He stressed, however, that the government will not be assisting the international prosecutor in the investigation.
“Philippine government through the president has repeatedly stated that we have no legal duty to cooperate or to lend assistance…But that does not mean that the ICC prosecutor cannot continue his investigation, he can do so (and) he can interview these five people directly… all that we’re saying is that the government will not be involved,” Guevarra said.
The five newly-tagged suspects were first revealed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on July 28. The document from the international tribunal said former officials of the Philippine National Police were responsible for the ordering of killings of drug suspects and users from 2011 to 2019.
Among the five suspects is former PNP chief and now Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who previously said he was unbothered by the ICC's decision to continue its investigation into the drug war in the Philippines. He, however, admitted was scared of being imprisoned.
Dela Rosa was appointed as the first PNP chief by former President Rodrigo Duterte following his presidential victory in 2016.
During his tenure, Dela Rosa supervised the enforcement of “Oplan Tokhang,” a controversial anti-narcotics initiative that resulted in thousands of fatalities, according to local and international human rights groups.
The four other suspects are the following:
- Former PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde
- Former PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Chief Romero Caramat Jr.
- Former Commissioner of the National Police Commission, Edilberto Leonardo
- Former PNP Chief Intelligence Officer Eleazar Mata
What will happen next
According to Guevarra, the ICC prosecutor asked the Philippine government to interview sa five top cops as the fiscal “cannot apply for a warrant of arrest unless he has full information about the facts that happened in the Philippine drug war.”
“So far, the ICC prosecutor has seen much on the side of the complainants, but nothing much on the side of those being accused,” Guevarra said.
“It is the duty of the prosecutor under Article 54 of the Rome Statute to investigate all facts, whether incriminating or exonerating. So that he presents a balanced picture to the pre-trial chamber whether it will issue a warrant of arrest or not,” he added.
On July 18, 2024, the ICC denied the Philippine government’s appeal to defer its investigation of the alleged crimes committed during the drug war. This allows the ICC prosecutor to proceed
Previous pronouncements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Department of Justice, however, emphasized that the country has no obligation to comply with the ICC as it has withdrawn its membership from the international tribunal.
But legal experts contest the claims, noting that the alleged crimes committed were done when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC, citing Article 27 of the Rome Statute.