Dela Rosa to Marcos: Have you now allowed ICC to conduct probe?

FILE PHOTO: Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire F. Domingo

[Updated]

MANILA, Philippines — “Be man enough. Just tell us the real score.”

These were the words uttered by former police chief turned Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa when he urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to disclose whether the latter’s administration had already allowed the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators in the Philippines.

“Just tell us. There’s no problem with that. There shouldn’t be hidden transactions. If you previously told me that they wouldn’t be allowed to enter, and now the air has changed and you’ve agreed, please tell us,” Dela Rosa appealed, speaking partly in Filipino, in a press conference on Monday.

“You are our President. You are our leader. Please tell us so that we know what to do,” he added.

Dela Rosa earlier told reporters that he is holding on to the president’s rock-solid promise that ICC investigators would not be able to touch even a single strand of his hair.

Dela Rosa, who was the chief implementer of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, is among those mentioned in the crimes against humanity complaint before the ICC.

The senator’s appeal, on the other hand, came following former Sen. Antonio Trillanes’ disclosure that ICC investigators have already gathered sufficient evidence against  Duterte and a warrant of arrest against him may be issued “very soon.”

Should there be truth to the circulating reports, dela Rosa said it would only validate the popular saying “there’s no forever,” admitting that it would change his view on the administration’s stance on the issue.

“If it’s true, my view will really change. They can go back on their word. That’s how I see it — granting that what Trillanes said is true,” he said.

“All I ask is for them to be frank. Talk to me like a man. If you want to investigate us — you want to put us in jail — tell us face to face. Don’t tell me one thing and do another. That’s all we’re asking for,” he added.

Dela Rosa said he was hoping that the government would be “kind enough” to inform them as citizens of the republic who also need protection.

Dela Rosa said he had not received an intel report that there were indeed ICC investigators in the Philippines, but he revealed that some media practitioners were telling him that some of these examiners stayed in Boracay.