Remulla: Interpol must go through PH courts to serve ICC warrant

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has to go through the Philippine court system if the International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue a warrant of arrest on individuals in the country, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla said Wednesday.

Remulla issued the remark at the Senate finance committee hearing on the proposed P40.585-billion budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its attached agencies.

"When it comes to them (Interpol) going into the country, kung gusto nilang pumasok dito upang manghuhuli at gusto magsagawa ng warrant na na-isyu ho ng ICC pagdating ng panahon, kailangan po itong dumaan sa ating court system," Remulla said.

(When it comes to Interpol going into the country, if they want to enter, make arrests, and implement a warrant issued by the ICC, when the time comes, this needs to go through our court system.)

"Ito po ay kinakailangan ng isang aksyon, action to enforce a warrant, action to enforce a judgment. Kailangan pong dumaan 'yan sa ating court system," he added.

(This requires an action to enforce a warrant, or action to enforce a judgment. That should go through in our court system.)

Should the Interpol go to the Philippine courts, the Justice Secretary said the DOJ will not intervene in this process.

"So hindi ho namin pakikialaman kasi 'yan po trabaho na ng Interpol kung talagang gusto nilang habulin 'yung taong nasasakdal. Sabihin natin nag-isyu po ng warrant of arrest ang ICC, gusto i-enforce ng Interpol dito, para ho ito ay matuloy at hindi magkaroon ng kasuhan, kinakailangan po magpunta sila sa korte natin. 'Yun po ang aming paningin," he explained.

(We won't intervene because that's the Interpol's job if they really want to pursue an accused individual. Let's say the ICC has issued an arrest warrant, and the Interpol wants to enforce it here, they need to go to our court so that charges won't be filed. That's our position.)

Earlier this month, Remulla said Philippine officials "respect the actions of Interpol 99% of the time" and they are "not in the business of blocking any movement of the Interpol unless a policy is laid out."

Video calls to witnesses

However, Remulla said they cannot hinder the ICC from conducting interviews with the probable witnesses on the investigation into the drug war during the Duterte administration.

"We are no longer members of the ICC, but right now, because of the technology that's available to all of us, it was so easy for them to go on Zoom, to go on a video call with all of these witnesses or probable witnesses who are here in the country. And we cannot stop them from doing that. Freedom of communication, I think, is paramount, when it comes to this," Remulla said.

The ICC is currently investigating former President Rodrigo Duterte over the alleged crimes against humanity due to the drug war-related killings during his term. These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that there were as much as 30,000.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. previously said that the Philippines is done talking with ICC, and that it has no jurisdiction as the Philippines already pulled out of ICC in March 2019.

'Provide the evidence'

Meanwhile, Remulla shared that the DOJ has informed the United Nations Human Rights Council to provide the evidence so the department may "pursue" it.

"Ang problema po namin dito napakahirap kumuha ng mga testigo na tetestigo sa mga pulis o tetestigo sa mga maaari pong gumawa ng karumal-dumal na krimen kasi natatakot po ang tao. Ngayon, kung bibigyan nila kami ng tamang ebidensya, at ito po ay aming puwedeng i-follow up, kami na po ang hahabol. 'Yun po ang aming polisiya dito," he said.

(The problem we're facing here is that it's very difficult to find witnesses who can testify against the police or against those who might have committed heinous crimes because people are afraid. If they can provide us with the right evidence, and if we can follow it up, then we'll be the ones to pursue it. That's our policy here.)

He mentioned that Philippine authorities are having difficulties in talking to probable witnesses in relation to the drug war.

"Meron pong sinasabi ang mga kaibigan natin na well-meaning naman, here are 200 families daw na gustong magreklamo, pero hawak daw nila walo, pero makakausap niyo dalawa lang. Pero sa dalawa, wala pang ibibigay na totoong ebidensya. Napakahirap ho talagang maghabol," he shared.

(Our well-meaning friends are saying that apparently, there are 200 families who want to file a complaint, but they're only holding on to eight of them. Among those eight, you can only talk to two. However, even with those two, they still haven't provided any concrete evidence, and it's really difficult to pursue the matter further.)

No police records

Evidence that would support the claims of extrajudicial killings are also hard to find as there were allegedly no police records, Remulla said.

"Lumalabas po talaga ang mga nangyaring EJK ng mga panahon na 'yun, ay walang police report. Walang police blotter. Wala ring record. Kaya napakahirap hong maghabol talalga. 'Yun po ang pinakabalakid po sa pagnanais namin hulihin talaga ang mga nagkasala. Kapag wala pong ebidensya, ano pong gagawin namin?" he added.

(It appears that the EJKs (extrajudicial killings) that happened back then were never recorded. There were no police reports, no police blotters, and no records. That's why it's extremely difficult to track them down. That's the biggest obstacle in our desire to catch the perpetrators. Without evidence, what can we do?)

Bato's nod

Reacting to Remulla's remarks, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief during Duterte's drug war, welcomed the Justice Secretary's remarks.

"Very good. That's good development kung gano'n ang kanyang sinabi. Maganda 'yan (Very good. That's a good development if that's what he said. That's great). I'm happy that they are defending their turf and they are defending our sovereignty, our jurisdiction. Masaya ako (I'm happy)," he said in an ambush interview.

Earlier this month, Dela Rosa, who earlier tagged himself as the "number 2 accused" in the ICC's drug war probe, took a swipe at Remulla and Solicitor General Menardo Gueverra over their latest remarks with regard to the developments in the ICC investigation.

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