Dela Rosa, 4 other ex-PNP officials tagged as ICC suspects —Trillanes

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday said Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and four other former ranking police officials have been tagged as suspects in the International Criminal Court's (ICC)  investigation into the Duterte administration's war on drugs.

On X (formerly Twitter), Trillanes posted a supposed redacted copy of an order by the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) naming Dela Rosa and the others as suspects in the ICC case against former President Rodrigo] Duterte.

Aside from Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, also supposedly named in the document were:

• former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, 
• former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Romeo Caramat Jr., 
• former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and
• former PNP Intelligence Officer Eleazar Mata

"[T]he OTP has reasonable grounds to believe that the following retired and serving members of the PNP have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP," the order on Trillanes' post read.

The OTP Public Information Unit declined to comment on the authenticity of the order, saying protecting confidentiality in its work is crucial.

“The Office 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,” it said in an email to GMA Integrated News.

According to Trillanes’ camp, the document came from “sources privy to the ICC investigation.”

GMA News Online has sought comment from some of the former PNP officials mentioned in Trillanes' post, but they have yet to respond as of posting time. 

For his part, Dela Rosa dismissed Trillanes' post, saying there is nothing new to it.

“My name [has] always [been] mentioned since 2016. Seems like a broken record that keeps on repeating the same lines,” he said. 

Official communication

Asked if the Department of Justice (DOJ) has received information on the supposed order, Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said the department will only give due course to official communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“However, any communication from DFA regarding the ICC will most likely be accompanied by a request to keep the information confidential,” Clavano said in a message to reporters.

For his part, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra noted that the document was marked “confidential,” when asked if his office has received any information about it.

Based on government records, around 6,200 drug individuals were killed during anti-drug police operations. Human rights organizations, however, say that the number may reach 30,000 due to the unreported related killings.

The Philippines, under Duterte, withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019 after the tribunal began a probe into his administration's drug war.

In January 2023, the ICC authorized the reopening of the inquiry after it was suspended in November 2021.

The ICC Appeals Chamber in July 2023 also denied the government’s plea against the resumption of the inquiry, prompting numerous government officials to speak against continued engagement with the ICC.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. previously said that the government would not serve any arrest warrant from the ICC against Duterte. He also said he does not recognize the jurisdiction of ICC in the Philippines and considers the tribunal as a threat to the country's sovereignty.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News