‘ICC notifies Philippine government of EJK suspects, led by Bato’

MANILA, Philippines — Former police chiefs Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde, along with three other former and current police officials, have been formally tagged as suspects in the ongoing drug war investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said yesterday.

Trillanes released portions of a four-page document purportedly released by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) on July 3.

He said the confidential document, which The STAR is still trying to independently verify, was sent to the Philippine government through its embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.

Based on the document released by Trillanes on his social media accounts, the ICC OTP supposedly found “reasonable grounds to believe” that five former and current officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) “have committed crimes within” its jurisdiction. Former president Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, is the principal suspect, Trillanes said.

Dela Rosa was the first PNP chief under the Duterte administration and the implementor of the former president’s war on drugs.

In addition to Dela Rosa and Albayalde, who both served as police chiefs under the Duterte administration, also tagged as suspects were former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and former PNP chief intelligence officer Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta.

Caramat is currently the PNP’s area police command in Northern Luzon, while Matta is the director of the PNP Philippine Drug Enforcement Group.

“The OTP is currently focusing its investigation on allegations of widespread and systematic killings of individuals in the Philippines, as part of a policy to eliminate drug users and suppliers between 2011 and 2019,” read the document, portions of which were redacted. “During this period, large numbers of drug offenders were killed during police enforcement activity,” it said.

“Under Article 54(1)a of the Rome Statute, the OTP is obliged to conduct investigations which cover all the facts and evidence. This includes providing individuals under suspicion of crimes to provide their version of events. In this context, the OTP has reasonable grounds to believe that the following retired and serving members of the Philippine National Police have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP,” it added.

Article 54 of the Rome Statute – the treaty that created the ICC – defines the duties and powers of the ICC prosecutor.

Those named in the document have yet to issue statements on the matter.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Trillanes said it is still unclear if the five would be included in the first batch of arrest warrants that are expect to be released soon.

“From persons of interest, now they are primary suspects or principals by indispensable cooperation,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes said the Marcos administration should act on the matter, noting that some of those named in the document are active members of the police force.

He clarified, however, that the ICC is not in the position to demand anything from the Philippine government.

“But the bottomline is, it’s now up to the Philippine government and President Marcos on what he will do with this information,” Trillanes added.

Albayalde earlier said he was ready to face an investigation on the war on drugs, stressing that his conscience is clear.

However, he maintained the probe should not be conducted by the ICC.

“It should always be through channels. Any international court or foreign entity cannot just enter and conduct such without following protocols,” Albayalde said.