Dela Rosa to Marcos: Stand your ground on ICC investigations

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa —INQUIRER.net/Noy Morcoso

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday to make a definite stand on behalf of the government amid the recent developments in the investigations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war on drugs.

In an interview with DWIZ 882, Dela Rosa questioned the recent changing stance of the cabinet in allowing the ICC probe in war on drugs, despite the President making a statement before that he would not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction in the country.

READ: Trillanes: ICC requests Interpol blue notice for PNP execs linked to drug war

“I am not sure of the definite stand of the government. What the President and his cabinet are saying are of two things: the President seems to have lost control over the cabinet or the President is the one who double talks over greenlighting what the cabinet does. Will he or will he not? nothing is definite,” said Dela Rosa.

READ: Dela Rosa: ICC can do whatever it wants, I’m not bothered

“I am hoping that the words of the President shall prevail and I hope he clears what the government’s stand is,” he added.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Tuesday that the government would not stand in the way of the ICC in prosecuting Duterte’s administration’s bloody drug war.

Guevarra also confirmed that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sought assistance from the government in July to interview former and current high-ranking police officers allegedly involved in the deaths of thousands of people in what was then known as “Oplan Tokhang.”

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said on Wednesday that he is not bothered by the recent actions taken by ICC against him after being tagged by ICC as suspects in the drug war. Dela Rosa was the chief of Philippine National Police during the time that the Duterte administration carried out the war on drugs.

“Why should I be bothered? Let them be. I’m not bothered. Let them be, go ahead,” he said.

The ICC has also asked the International Police (Interpol) to put five high-ranking government officials linked to the drug war, including Dela Rosa, under “blue notice”. A blue notice seeks to “to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.”