Sen. Ronaldo `Bato’ dela Rosa has accused probers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of threatening retired police officers in Pasay City into implicating him and former President Rodrigo Duterte in the latter’s brutal war on drugs.—SENATE PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronaldo `Bato’ dela Rosa has accused probers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of threatening retired police officers in Pasay City into implicating him and former President Rodrigo Duterte in the latter’s brutal war on drugs.
In a press statement on Friday, Dela Rosa said he is set to launch a Senate inquiry into the incident, detailing that some retired officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are being forced to sign an affidavit against them, or they would be the ones implicated in the case.
READ: Holding the powerful accountable: Why Duterte must face the ICC
In the same statement, dela Rosa said that if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is sincere about his previous statement that he is “open to reconciling with the Dutertes,” then the Chief Executive should move to expel the ICC prosecutors from the country.
Dela Rosa said the ICC has an “ongoing mission” in a hotel in Pasay City, where police officers are supposedly being threatened to sign an affidavit against him and Duterte.
“(N)ananakot (sila) sa mga retired ng mga pulis ma pinipilit nila mag-sign ng affidavit na ididiin kami ni Pangulong Duterte, otherwise, sila daw ang ididiin,`yung mga pulis na pinagtatawag nila,” the senator said.
(They are threatening the retired police officers, forcing them to sign an affidavit implicating President Duterte and me, otherwise, they will be the ones to be accused here, the police officers that they called.)
De la Rosa said they will conduct an inquiry into this incident.
“Magka-conduct kami ng hearing at ‘yung mga tao na involved diyan, ‘yung mga Pilipino na mga taksil sa ating soberanya ay mananagot ‘yan,” said dela Rosa.
(We will conduct a hearing, and the people involved in that, the Filipinos who are traitors to our sovereignty, will be held accountable.)
“Kilala namin ‘yung mga tao na sangkot diyan na sige patawag ng mga pulis at pagdating doon sa hotel, tinatakot ‘yung mga pulis natin. Kawawa nga ang mga pulis eh. The PNP should take care of its people,” Dela Rosa said.
(We know the people involved who would call the police, and when they arrived at the hotel, they intimidated our police… I pity the police. The PNP should take care of its people.)
While he did not provide a definite date for when the probe would be launched, Dela Rosa stated that it would begin once the 20th Congress opens in July.
READ: De la Rosa says his votes are a protest for Duterte’s ICC arrest
Inquirer.net has asked both the PNP and the ICC to comment on dela Rosa’s disclosure, but neither of them has replied as of writing.
Being Duterte’s former top cop, dela Rosa was the one who issued Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016 when he assumed power as PNP chief.
The memo was the basis for Project Double Barrel, which started Duterte’s war on drugs, which was later dubbed as Oplan Tokhang.
Atty. Kristina Conti, an ICC assistant to counsel, earlier told INQUIRER.net that after Duterte, dela Rosa, and retired police chief Oscar Albayalde could be the next to receive arrest warrants from the ICC for crimes against humanity over their roles in the previous administration’s drug war.
READ: Bato dela Rosa still in PH, not hiding
Duterte is now detained in the ICC headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, and awaiting the next hearing on his crimes against humanity case set for September./ Charie Abarca