NBI chief: More ICC arrest warrants may be issued within a month

MANILA, Philippines — More arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in relation to the drug war campaign of the previous administration may be expected within a month, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag said on Friday. 

During a roundtable discussion with Inquirer, Matibag was asked how long it would take before additional arrest warrants are issued following the warrant against Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

READ: NBI to send letter, instead of subpoena, to Bato dela Rosa’s wife

Asked to clarify whether more warrants could be issued within a month, Matibag answered in the affirmative.

However, he said he did not know whether the warrants would be issued simultaneously or separately.

“I don’t know because there is really a push. Those pushing for this are very active. Not from the government,” he said.

Also asked how the NBI and other law enforcement agencies would ensure that dela Rosa could not evade arrest again, Matibag said the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the recent developments involving the senator would serve as a “learning experience.”

“Good thing now, there is already a guidance somehow from the Supreme Court when it issued the denial of the TRO,” the NBI chief said.

On the day dela Rosa appeared in the Senate after months away from public view, he was placed under the Senate’s protective custody amid reports that an ICC arrest warrant could soon be served. Later that day, the ICC publicly confirmed the existence of the warrant.

READ: No destabilization plot but we know where tale is coming from – Palace

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said it found reasonable grounds to believe that dela Rosa was individually responsible for crimes against humanity for murder under Article 7(1) (a) of the Rome Statute.The alleged crimes were committed between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018, a period during which at least 32 individuals were killed. Dela Rosa served as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during that time.

After dela Rosa reportedly went into hiding following the Senate shooting incident, the Department of Justice directed the NBI and the PNP to enforce the arrest warrant. This came after the Supreme Court denied his petition for a temporary restraining order to block his arrest.

Matibag earlier disclosed that the NBI had received information indicating that several other personalities could also face ICC arrest warrants. He stressed that the bureau follows the same protocol in serving warrants regardless of the individuals involved or the crimes alleged.

Last February 13, the ICC named dela Rosa, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, and other personalities as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s co-perpetrators in the alleged commission of crimes against humanity for the implementation of the drug war campaign.

READ: ICC names Dela Rosa, Bong Go as co-perpetrators in Duterte drug war

In the lesser redacted version of the Document Containing Charges submitted by the Office of the Prosecution, it stated that “[a]t least between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019, DUTERTE and his co-perpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines )including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including muder (“Common Plan.”)

The document then identified the following as members of the “Common Plan”:

• Dela Rosa (former chief of the PNP and chief of Davao City Police)
• Go: former Personal Aide and Special Assistant
• Vicente Danao: former Chief of Davao City Police and Deputy Director for Operations of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group
• Camilo Cascolan: former Finance Chief of Davao Region Police Office and PNP chief for Directorate for Operations
• Oscar Albayalde: former Regional Director of the National Capital Region Police Office
• Dante Gierran: former Davao Regional Director for the National Bureau of Investigation
• Isidro Lapeña: former Davao City Police Chief and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief
• Vitaliano Aguirre II
• Other members of the PNP and high-ranking government officials/dp