Bato to Marcos: Tell us if gov’t allowed ICC into Philippines

Malacañang should say directly if it indeed allowed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigators to enter the Philippines, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said Monday.

Dela Rosa made the remark amid former senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s claim that an arrest warrant is expected to be issued soon against former president Rodrigo Duterte and other respondents in connection with the ICC investigation into the Duterte administration's war on drugs, and that the ICC probers arrived in the country in December 2023 and were able to conduct interviews with concerned individuals.

“What I am asking from this government is to be man enough to please tell us what’s the real score. Sabihan lang. Wala namang problema d’yan. Wala lang patalikod na transaksyon,” Dela Rosa said in a press conference Monday.

(Just say so. That would be no problem. No hidden transaction.)

He recalled President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s supposed promise to him in a dinner at Malacañang late last year that the president would not allow ICC’s entry in the Philippines.

“Pag sinabihan mo ako noon na hindi sila pwedeng pumasok at ngayon nabago ang ihip ng hangin, pumayag na kayo na pumasok, please tell us. You are our president, you are our leader. Tell us so we know what to do,” he said.

(If you told me before that they would not be allowed in and now the wind has changed and you allowed them in, please tell us.)

“Prangkahan, usapang lalaki. Kung gusto niyong imbestigahan kami, gusto niyo kaming makulong, then sabihan niyo kami nang harap-harapan, ‘wag ‘yung iba sinasabi, iba ‘yung nangyayari. ‘Yun lang ang pakiusap naming,” he added.

(Frank talk. If you want us investigated, if you want us jailed, then tell us to our face. Don't say one thing and do another. That is what we ask.)

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the Palace for comment.

If the Marcos administration indeed allowed the entry of the ICC investigators in the country, Dela Rosa said he would cooperate.

“Pag sinabi ng presidente natin, mag-cooperate tayo [If the president said so, then we will cooperate]. I’m only a citizen of this republic. I am bound by laws, so susunod ako...[so I will follow] Unless may official confirmation, tsaka na ako maniwala. Bakit ako maniwala sa marites [When there is official confirmation, that is when I will believe. Why would I believe in gossip],” he said.

“I hope this government is kind enough to inform us. After all, we are citizens of this republic and we need protection from our government kung kinakailangan namin, di ba? [if we need it, right?]” he added.

Asked if he will clarify this with Malacañang, Dela Rosa said they will not and that the government must inform them directly.

“Mga Pilipino naman kami, mga mamamayan ninyo kami, di ba? Please. Sabihan na lang. Hindi ‘yung patago o parang mangyari diyan para tayong sinaksak sa likod niyan pag ganon, ‘di ba? We will follow whatever Malacañang says,” he said.

(We are Filipinos, we are your countrymen, right? Please. Just tell us, instead of hidden moves because it would be like stabbing us in the back, right?)

Based on the information he received, Trillanes said the ICC probers arrived in the country in December 2023 and were able to conduct interviews with concerned individuals, GTV’s "Balitanghali" reported Monday.

The former senator said investigators of the international body have finished gathering information on Duterte and the others involved.

In a press conference, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. said the police organization has yet to receive confirmed reports on the matter.

“As of now, we do not have any confirmed reports or communications reaching our office to that effect,” he said.

Dela Rosa also disclosed that lawyer Harry Roque, the spokesperson of the former president, will serve as their legal counsel.

Dela Rosa also explicitly stated that he would not support any supposed destabilization efforts against Marcos even if he indeed allowed the entry of ICC.

“Wala naman akong nababalitaan... Ako pa, makakabalita talaga ako kung meron... [I have not heard of anything...I would definitely say if I had heard anything...] I would like to state this clear ha. I'm not supporting any destabilization effort,” Dela Rosa said.

“I am supporting this governmentt through and through. Kahit anong mangyari kahit sabihin mo papasukin nila ICC, nandiyan pa rin ako susuporta pa rin ako kasi magiging makasarili tayo niyan… ‘Wag tayong ganyan dapat...Kapag may destabilization, apektado ang pamilya ko ang buong bayan, so kawawa naman ang Pilipino mag-sa-suffer,” he added.

(Whatever happens, even if they let in the ICC, I will still be supportive because otherwise I would be selfish. We should not be like that. If there is destabilization, my family and the whole country would be affected, so the Filipinos would suffer.)

In March last year, Dela Rosa—who earlier tagged himself as the “number 2 accused” in the ICC investigation—disclosed that during the 2022 election campaign, then-presidential candidate Marcos promised him that the ICC would not be able to touch him.

An apparent change of tune in Marcos’ stance on the ICC investigation into the previous administration’s drug war was floated when the president said in November last year that returning into the fold of the international tribunal is “under study” even though he maintained that there are “problems” with regards to the issue of jurisdiction.

To recall, Marcos said in February last year that he would not cooperate with the ICC investigation into the alleged abuses under Duterte’s drug war.

The ICC Appeals Chamber had denied the Philippine government’s appeal to stop the probe, saying the Philippines failed to prove that a legitimate investigation into the drug war killings and the prosecution of the perpetrators were being undertaken by Philippine authorities.

The ICC Prosecutor Pre-Trial chamber earlier observed regarding the drug war that “the available material indicates, to the required standard, that a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2)(a) of the Statute.”

Statistics vary depending on sources but according to Human Rights Watch, Duterte’s “war on drugs” resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 Filipinos, mostly from the urban poor. — BM, GMA Integrated News