No ICC warrant for Bong Go – Remulla, DOJ

MANILA, Philippines —  Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte might be “high” when he said the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Sen. Bong Go, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.

“He might have been high (on drugs) when he supposedly heard about it since we haven’t seen (a warrant). We don’t know,” Remulla told reporters at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has no information about the supposed ICC warrant for Go.

If there is a warrant, Nartatez said tracker teams are ready to enforce it.

Remulla said they are ready to assist in enforcing any ICC warrant, maintaining that Duterte’s pronouncement is dangerous.

Even the Department of Justice denied receiving any official communication from the ICC about the supposed arrest warrant for Go.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime would be notified if there is an ICC warrant.

Malacañang has refuted Duterte’s claim that the administration is using the ICC as a weapon against its critics.

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV earlier claimed that Go, a former aide of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is the next target of an arrest warrant from the ICC.

Go is reportedly tagged as a co-conspirator in Duterte’s crimes against humanity case.

“Our fellow Filipinos filed the case against the alleged abuses related to extrajudicial killings. Let us not forget that... They just want accountability,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said.

–  Evelyn Macairan, Alexis Romero