MANILA, Philippines — While the Philippine government may not be inclined to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) from interviewing persons of interest linked to the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war, the government “will not get in the way” of its proceedings, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said.
Guevarra revealed the ICC prosecutor has sought the assistance of the government to facilitate the interview of five incumbent and former Philippine National Police (PNP) officials on their alleged involvement in the drug war killings.
However, with the current stance of the Philippines that it has no legal duty to cooperate with or extend a hand to the ICC, Guevarra said the government probably will not assist the international tribunal.
“That does not mean the ICC prosecutor cannot continue in his investigation. He can interview these five people directly. All that we’re saying is the government will not be involved,” he said over One News’ “The Big Story” on Monday.
“We will not get in the way. The ICC prosecutor can do that voluntarily, by himself, directly talking to these people,” Guevarra added.
In a separate message to reporters, Guevarra said the government “cannot stop” the ICC prosecutor from proceeding with the investigation and may directly interview the five persons of interest “online, through phone, by email or face-to-face, subject to the consent of these persons.”
Guevarra said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has submitted its recommendations to President Marcos regarding the request of the ICC prosecutor. He declined to give the details.
While Guevarra did not give the names of the five suspects, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said former PNP chiefs Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Romeo Caramat Jr., Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo of the National Police Commission and former PNP intelligence officer Eleazar Mata have been named as suspects.
Trillanes earlier released portions of a four-page document supposedly released by the ICC-Office of the Prosecutor. He said the document was sent to the Philippine government through its embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The ICC-OTP has declined to comment on the supposed document.
In a message to The STAR, the ICC-OTP said 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.”
Interpol ‘blue notice’
The ICC-OTP has requested the International Criminal Police Organization to place the five ICC “suspects” in the Interpol’s “blue notice” list, Trillanes said yesterday.
In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Trillanes said the ICC-OTP made the request after it formally tagged Dela Rosa, Albayalde, Caramat, Leonardo and Mata as suspects in its ongoing investigation into the war against illegal drugs.
According to Interpol, a blue notice is issued “to locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.”
“Based on my information, they are already there (in the blue notice list),” Trillanes said.
The STAR is trying to independently verify Trillanes’ claim.
He said the five – while they will be allowed to leave the Philippines – will be held in a receiving 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.
He said inclusion in Interpol’s blue notice list is one of the tools the ICC-OTP uses to increase 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,” he added.
Trillanes also urged Guevarra to resign from his post “out of delicadeza,” as Guevarra is “compromising” the Marcos administration because of his role as ex-Cabinet member of former president Duterte.
“Guevarra is a former DOJ secretary of Duterte. He was the defender of Duterte. He said that there was no evidence,” he added.
Trillanes also cited Guevarra’s comments on the ICC’s request letter to interview Dela Rosa, Albayalde, Caramat, Leonardo and Mata.
“The way SolGen Guevarra interpreted the letter, he softened it. It’s not that way. They are informed that they are suspects. Now that they are already informed, you need to give your counter-affidavit,” Trillanes said. — Janvic Mateo, Jose Rodel Clapano
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