PNP: No efforts to coax officials to be ICC witnesses monitored

After Senator Ronald Dela Rosa claimed that former police officials had been asked to execute affidavits to implicate him and former President Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court drug war cases, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday that it had not monitored any efforts to influence its officials to be a witness in the ICC.

PNP Spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said she had yet to talk to PNP Chief Police General Rommel Marbil and the former head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Police Major General Romeo Caramat Jr. about the matter.

“I think it would be best to ask [Caramat] kung totoong nangyari itong (if there really was a) meeting between him and the legal director and of course our Speaker po,” Fajardo said in a press conference.

“On the part of the PNP, we have not monitored any attempt to influence or even encourage anyone to be a witness,” she added.

On Thursday, Senator dela Rosa said former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency chief Ricardo De Leon talked to retired and active police officials.

Dela Rosa claimed that Trillanes and De Leon, in the presence of Speaker Martin Romualdez and Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, asked former police officials to execute affidavits to implicate him and Duterte.

Dela Rosa is among the suspects in the ICC probe into the drug war.

De Leon denied pressuring police officials to testify against Duterte and Dela Rosa before the ICC.

Meanwhile, Co said that in his meeting with Romualdez and Caramat, "there was never any mention of testifying against anyone before the ICC."

Both De Leon and Co said Caramat offered to reveal what he knew about extrajudicial killings and the war on drugs in exchange for being appointed PNP Chief.

GMA News Online has sought comment from Caramat but he has yet to respond as of posting time. — DVM, GMA Integrated News