Will they talk?

To protect themselves, will the underlings stop protecting their superiors?

Speculations are swirling these days on what Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa might tell the International Criminal Court, after he expressed willingness, for the first time ever, to be interviewed “anytime” by the ICC.

He said this after Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra confirmed that the ICC had notified the Philippine government that five persons had been identified as “suspects” in a possible case of murder as a crime against humanity related to the war on drugs waged by Rodrigo Duterte when he was president and, earlier, mayor of Davao City.

The suspects, apart from Dela Rosa, are former Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo of the National Police Commission, Northern Luzon police commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat and PNP Drug Enforcement Group chief Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta.

A tell-all by Dela Rosa would be compelling. A native of Davao del Sur, nearly his entire PNP career was spent in the Davao region, much of it in Davao City.

Dela Rosa has not denied being described as the architect of Oplan Tokhang, which Duterte launched in line with his campaign promise to eliminate the drug scourge nationwide within six months of his presidency.

*      *      *

The senator has openly admitted that police abuses were committed in the conduct of the drug war. He had told us in TV interviews that if there was anything he regretted, it was the failure to first carry out a thorough housecleaning in the PNP before the bloody campaign was launched, to prevent police abuses.

But he has denied any direct order from Duterte for a systematic, state-sponsored execution of drug suspects. Those public threats of Duterte to kill drug dealers? Everyone knows Duterte is fond of hyperbole, Dela Rosa told us.

Would Albayalde have a different story? He has said his conscience is clear. As PNP chief, he had presided over the reworked second phase of Tokhang, code-named Double Barrel, which targeted major drug dealers instead of the mostly impoverished penny-ante neighborhood drug pushers in the initial “shock and awe” phase of the crackdown.

What about Napolcom’s Leonardo, a retired police colonel who has reportedly been tagged by the ICC as the paymaster for cops who killed drug suspects? Payment of the reward – about P10,000 per head – was allegedly facilitated by Matta, at the time a PNP intelligence officer.

Caramat, meanwhile, gained notoriety for being the provincial police commander of Bulacan when the bloodiest day of the drug war was recorded in August 2017 – with 32 suspects shot dead in a “one-time, big-time” sweep involving 67 separate raids around the province.

Duterte praised and later promoted Caramat.

“Those who died in Bulacan – 32 – in a massive raid, that’s good,” Duterte reportedly said. “If we can kill another 32 every day, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country.”

*      *      *

Those statements are reportedly among the elements to be cited by the ICC in arguing that the drug war involved systematic, state-sponsored killings constituting murder as a crime against humanity.

We have yet to hear from Leonardo, Matta and Caramat about the accusations against them. Will they cooperate with the ICC and help present a clear picture of what happened? The three, and possibly even Albayalde, may qualify as witnesses against the principal perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Whether Dela Rosa can be a witness against Duterte is uncertain. Does he even want to be such a witness?

Dela Rosa said last week that he merely wanted to show “amity” and be treated like an ordinary person, showing no disrespect in case the ICC interviewed him. He maintained the stand of the Duterte camp that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the drug killings in the Philippines.

From our interviews with Senator Bato, I’ve found him to be always amiable and refreshingly candid. I’m not sure though if the amiability and candor would extend to ICC prosecutors.

Dela Rosa has refused to disclose what he might tell the ICC, saying he did not want to telegraph his actions. Also, as he correctly pointed out, the Marcos administration “has no definite policy” on the ICC probe. Dela Rosa expressed hope that President Marcos would stay true to his previous pronouncements that the ICC has no jurisdiction here and the Philippine government would not cooperate with the ICC.

But BBM also said last year that the country’s return to the ICC was under “study.” The outcome of that study has yet to be disclosed. Dela Rosa wondered aloud if BBM was “double talking.”

As of last week, however, Dela Rosa and the other drug war “suspects” including Duterte himself must have started seeing clarity emerging in the policy of Marcos 2.0 on the ICC.

*      *      *

There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Administration officials have said the government won’t cooperate with the ICC, but it’s bound by international commitments to cooperate with the International Criminal Police Organization, since the Philippines is a member of the Interpol.

The ICC can ask Interpol to enforce arrest warrants for the drug war suspects, according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who noted that the ICC main office is just across the street from the Interpol branch in The Hague.

“We are not in the business of blocking any movement of the Interpol, unless a policy is laid out, which of course will go against our international commitments,” Remulla said last week.

He added: “The principle of comity dictates that we remain friendly and do not block any legal actions they undertake. If they engage in illegal activities, then we will not tolerate that, if they violate our laws.”

Last week, former senator Antonio Trillanes said the Interpol, upon the ICC’s request, had issued a “blue notice” for the drug war suspects. This means that while the suspects can leave the Philippines anytime, if they enter any of the 195 other Interpol member states, they can be held by authorities for interview by the ICC.

It’s not an arrest... yet. But it will be quite embarrassing for the suspect and his family.

What will Ronald dela Rosa do? Perhaps he still doesn’t know at this point.

“I will cross the bridge when I get there,” he said.