Guevarra maintains gov't cannot stop ICC from interviewing suspects

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday maintained that the Philippine government cannot stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor from interviewing persons of interest in its investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

“We cannot stop the ICC prosecutor from investigating. That’s his mandate. He can interview anyone by phone, by email, through local organizations, even face-to-face if the subject consents to be interviewed,” he told reporters.

“That is consistent with reality,” he added.

Guevarra issued the remark when sought for comment on Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa questioning whether Guevarra and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla were challenging the policy set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He said that Guevara’s “unsolicited opinion puts the administration in a risky position” by “promising” assistance to the ICC prosecutors as part of his legal duty.

The Solicitor General, however, maintained that the government has no legal duty to cooperate with the ICC.

“I have nothing to say further. My statements are clear and understandable by everyone. The government has no legal duty to cooperate with the ICC,” Guevarra said.

“That’s consistent with the president’s policy,” he added.

Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police under the Duterte administration, was supposedly tagged as a suspect by the ICC.

For his part, Remulla previously said that the government was “not in the business of blocking the movement of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)” should it be tapped by the ICC.

The Philippines, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2019 after the tribunal began a probe into his drug war.

Based on government records, around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration's anti-drug operations. Human rights organizations, however, say that the number may reach 30,000 due to the unreported related slays. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News