MANILA, Philippines – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested an interview with Philippine officials it considers as “under suspicion” in its ongoing investigation of Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, the Solicitor General has confirmed.
“[The individuals] are under suspicion, not suspects. The request is not the same as a summons. The subject may agree or refuse to be interviewed,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra told Rappler on Tuesday, July 30.
Guevarra said that the request was also sent to the Philippine government “to facilitate the interview by the ICC prosecutor of certain individuals named in the request, either at The hague or in the Philippines.”
Guevarra refused to name the officials being requested for an interview, but his revelation of this stage was prompted by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV publishing a confidential document from the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) naming five police officials, both active and retired:
- Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s police chief and architect of the drug war
- Former police chief Oscar Albayalde
- Northern Luzon Police commander Major General Romeo Caramat
- Former National Police Commissioner (Napolcom) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo
- Former police chief intelligence officer Eleazar Matta
Rappler has not independently verified Trillanes’ document. Guevarra said he “cannot confirm nor deny” the document. The ICC OTP told Rappler it also cannot verify documents shared by outside sources, but the Office did confirm that this is something they do in their process.
“While pursuing its investigation, the Office seeks to engage and establish dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, including national authorities and civil society,” the OTP told Rappler.
It’s important to note that the document is a request from the OTP and not an order of the ICC. ICC has a chamber, or the court itself, and OTP is the prosecutor. They are independent of each other.
Prosecutor Karim Khan’s investigation of Duterte’s drug war is at a stage where he can request either summons or arrest warrants against individuals. This latest update tells us that they have identified individuals “under suspicion,” although Guevarra said it cannot be equated to summons.
The ICC’s process is a very complex one, and some of its features are unexplored even to lawyers practicing international law. It evolves and is known through time to those who are part of it. Another major consideration for the pace of investigation is whether it is a priority of the OTP, which is a small and underfunded office if you consider the magnitude of its investigations. The OTP’s two major investigations are the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.
“The Philippine government cannot stop him [Khan] from proceeding any way he wants. He can directly interview persons of interest online, through the phone, by email, or face to face, subject to the consent of these persons. But the ICC prosecutor cannot expect that the Philippine government will facilitate it for him,” Guevarra said.
This is another variation of the Marcos government’s wishy-washy position toward the ICC, at least in public: they are not against it, but they will not facilitate it.
Albayalde, who attended a continuing House of Representatives inquiry into the drug war, said he was ready to face the ICC. “Kung talaga pong ganyan ang kahihinatnan ng ating serbisyo sa publiko for more than 37 years, then handa po tayong harapin (If that is really my fate after 37 years in public service, then I am ready to face it),” said Albayalde.
Guevarra said his office has submitted a recommendation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but did not provide other details, citing privileged communication. Marcos has so far refused to return the Philippines to the ICC, although he once said he was studying the option. It was Duterte who pulled out the country from the Rome Statute after former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened the examination in 2018.
The ICC prosecutor’s investigation covers the drug war until our effective exit from the ICC in 2019, and the mysterious killings of the alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS) when Duterte was mayor and vice mayor of Davao City. Self-confessed DDS hitman Arturo Lascañas has already been given limited immunity by the ICC.
Duterte has so far not been named in any known requests by the prosecutor, but he’s been constantly identified in all of the reports that has led to the investigation.
Under the Rome Statute, which Philippine government officials always invoke, the ICC can step aside if there is a genuine domestic investigation. Rappler has found that in the showcase 52 cases that the Philippines reinvestigated, out of 7,000 police killings and total 30,000 killings, most cases or 32 of them were closed with no further action.
You may visit Rappler’s database of the 52 cases here. – Rappler.com
