SolGen: No change in government policy on ICC

MANILA, Philippines — Contrary to claims of some allies of former president Rodrigo Duterte, the Marcos administration has not changed its policy on the ongoing investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the war on drugs, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said.

“There is no change in the position previously stated by President (Marcos) many months ago. He has repeated that statement over and over, to the effect that the Philippines has no legal duty to cooperate (with the ICC),” Guevarra said in English and Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News on Thursday.

“As far as that policy is concerned, I am not aware that the President has deviated from what he has consistently stated before. It’s a policy, it’s up to him whether he will stick to it or not,” he added.

The administration drew criticism from Duterte’s allies after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in August that the Philippines cannot block the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) from serving arrest warrants issued by the ICC.

He said the Philippines, while no longer a member of the ICC, is still obligated to honor its commitments with Interpol.

Remulla later clarified that the Interpol would have to go through the Philippine court system in the process of enforcing arrest warrants issued by international tribunals such as the ICC.

The ICC is expected to issue arrest warrants against Duterte and others linked to the previous administration’s deadly campaign against illegal drugs.

“It does not have its own force, a composite police force, to implement anything. In my opinion, they will have to coordinate with their national counterpart, which is the PNP (Philippine National Police). The PNP is under the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), which is under the Chief Executive,” he said.

While the Philippines does not have a legal duty to cooperate with the ICC investigation, the solicitor general admitted that it also cannot stop the ICC prosecutor from conducting its investigation.

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor earlier asked the Philippine government for assistance in facilitating interviews with five former and current police officers, including Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, who have been tagged as suspects in the drug war killings.

Guevarra said he is not aware if the Department of Foreign Affairs had already officially responded to the request, but he reiterated the government’s position on the matter.

At yesterday’s hearing of the House quad committee, panel overall head Robert Ace Barbers pushed for a review of the death penalty for heinous crimes, including drug trafficking and extrajudicial killings (EJKs).

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) announced yesterday the release of Jimmy Fortaleza, a former police officer and resource person at the quad committee probe on the killing of Chinese drug suspects in 2016, after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court granted his petition for habeas corpus.

In a 14-page decision, Judge Gener Gito granted Fortaleza’s petition, which included a request for a computation of Special Time Allowance for Loyalty. As a result, Fortaleza’s original sentence of 32 years was reduced to only eight years.

Fortaleza was in the custody of the House of Representatives while serving as a resource person at the quad comm hearings where he corroborated the testimonies of two other prisoners, Fernando Magdadaro and Leopoldo Tan Jr., regarding the alleged execution of three Chinese drug lords at the Davao penal colony in 2016. — Sheila Crisostomo, Christine Boton