Govt won’t stop Interpol action vs suspects in ICC probe – Remulla

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the Philippine government will not block or stop the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) from serving any arrest warrant in connection with the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe on the deaths and abuses associated with the illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration.

“We are not in the business of blocking or stopping any movement at Interpol, whose job is to fight international crime,” Remulla told reporters when asked what the government will do if an arrest warrant from the Interpol is issued against individuals in connection with the ICC investigation.

He explained that while the Philippines has withdrawn from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, it remains a part and member of the Interpol.

Remulla’s statement came a day after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that the ICC prosecutor has asked the Interpol to place Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and other current and former police officials on its “blue notice.”

A “blue notice,” according to the Interpol’s website, seeks to collect additional information and data about an individual’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.

Aside from Dela Rosa, Trillanes also named former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Romeo Caramat Jr., former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and former PNP Intelligence Officer Eleazar Mata as among those that have been named as suspects in the ICC probe.

Earlier this week, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the Philippine government cannot stop the ICC from interviewing persons of interest, including former and current police officers, in its ongoing investigation on the drug war.

Meanwhile, Albayalde said he will cooperate with the ICC probe only if the DOJ would allow him.

In a television interview, Albayalde said: “Yes, I’m ready to face the ICC… if sanctioned by the government, if allowed and sanctioned by no less than the Department of Justice.”

“I will let myself (to be interviewed) if and only, if the Department of Justice tell us and if there is an order directly