MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has declined to confirm the reported inclusion of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and four other former and current police officers on its Blue Notice list.
“Blue Notices – which are used to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation – are not made public,” the Interpol press office said yesterday in response to an inquiry sent by The STAR.
“As with all notice requests, these are assessed by a specialized task force to determine if they are in compliance with our Constitution and rules,” it added.
The Interpol referred the matter to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC-OTP), which supposedly made the request.
In an earlier message to The STAR, the ICC-OTP said that it “does not provide comment on any statements made by governments or other state representatives and is unable to verify or authenticate any documents shared by outside sources.”
“Protecting the confidentiality of our work is crucial, to ensure the safety of all those that the office interacts with and to protect the integrity of our operations,” it added.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday claimed that Dela Rosa and four others have been placed on the Blue Notice list upon the request of the ICC-OTP.
The other four are former Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, 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-OTP earlier formally tagged the five as suspects in its ongoing investigation into the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs.
Trillanes said the inclusion of the five on the Blue Notice list meant that they would be held upon arrival in a foreign country until ICC investigators arrive to conduct an interview.
“Their term is interview. But actually, that’s essentially a tactical interrogation. They will not be able to leave until after that interview,” Trillanes said in an interview with “Storycon” on One News.
He added that inclusion in the Interpol’s Blue Notice list is one of the tools that the ICC-OTP uses “to increase or scale up the pressure for them to cooperate.”
“They’re giving these people all the chances that they can get so that they will not be included in the case. At the end of the day, it’s up to them,” Trillanes said.
Albayalde ready for ICC
Saying he will put his government career on the line, Albayalde is ready to face the ICC-OTP which tagged him as a suspect in its investigation on the previous administration’s war on drugs.
Albayalde, the second police chief of former president Rodrigo Duterte, maintained his innocence over the alleged human rights abuses that marred the previous administration’s anti-drug campaign.
“If that will be the outcome of our more than 37 years of serving our country, we can’t do anything but face it,” Albayalde said in an interview aired over News5.
He chided Trillanes, who made public a copy of the document supposedly from the ICC which tagged him and the four other officials as suspects.
Albayalde asked the former senator if he is a spokesman for the ICC or playing politics for releasing what was supposed to be a classified document.
“Is Trillanes playing as the spokesperson of ICC now or the government? We don’t know, or he is using the ICC as a political tool for his political personal interest,” the former PNP chief said.
Despite the recent development, Albayalde expressed belief that President Marcos will not change his stand that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
For Albayalde, allowing the ICC into the country is a slap to the country’s sovereignty.
Panelo slams Guevarra
Meanwhile, an official of the Duterte administration on Tuesday slammed Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra over his remark that the Philippine government would not prevent the ICC from questioning Filipinos linked to the bloody drug war.
In a statement, Salvador Panelo, who served as Duterte’s chief presidential legal counsel, said Guevarra’s stance seemed to contradict that of Marcos, who has repeatedly stated that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
“By saying that the Philippine government will not stop and allow the ICC investigation, the solicitor general is effectively conceding that the ICC has jurisdiction over this country, thereby not only contradicting but subverting the pronouncement of PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) on the ICC,” Panelo added.
In an interview last Monday, Guevarra asserted that while the government would not “get in the way” of the ICC prosecutor, it would not assist in the investigation.
“The 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,” he said.
Document from the international tribunal said that former officials of the PNP were responsible for the ordering of killings of drug suspects and users from 2011 to 2019.
Panelo said Guevarra had filed a request for deferment of the investigation before the ICC, and after being denied, filed a motion for reconsideration, which was again denied.
“Not realizing his colossal mistake that by making those official submissions to the ICC, the Philippine government in effect recognized its jurisdiction, instituted an appeal in the ICC, which rejected it, and chided the appellant that its various pleadings filed before it are deemed to be in recognition of its jurisdiction over us,” Panelo added.
For him, there is a disconnect between what the principal is saying and what his agent is doing.
Meanwhile, labor group Federation of Free Workers yesterday lauded the Marcos administration’s decision not to stop the ICC prosecutors from investi- gating the bloody drug war under the Duterte administration. – Helen Flores, Emmanuel Tupas, Mayen Jaymalin