FILE PHOTO: Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and four other former officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) “are now considered suspects” in the “drug war” case against ex-President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC)., according to former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. PHOTO: Tetch Torres / INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and four other former officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) “are now considered suspects” in the “drug war” case against ex-President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This was according to former Sen. Sonny Trillanes IV, as he posted a document from the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, showing names of “retired and serving members of the Philippine National Police” (PNP) who may have “committed crimes within the jurisdiction of [The Office of the Prosecutor]” of the ICC.
Trillanes then enumerated the names of dela Rosa, Oscar Albayalde, Romeo Caramat Jr., Eleazar Mata, and Edilberto Leonardo in his X post.
READ: ICC ‘drug war’ probers in PH: Just a ‘matter of time’
During the Duterte administration, dela Rosa and Albayalde served as PNP chiefs while Caramat and Mata served as a former chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and a former chief intelligence officer of the PNP, respectively. Leonardo, meanwhile, was former commissioner of the National Police Commission.
Trillanes, a long-time critic of former President Duterte, filed a supplemental communication with the ICC in The Hague in 2017, arguing it was time for the international tribunal to step in and investigate the alleged crimes against humanity that took place during the brutal anti-drug campaign of the Duterte administration.
“The following former and active PNP officials are now considered as suspects in the ICC case against Duterte,” Trillanes captioned his X post as he mentioned the names of the former officials of the PNP.
INQUIRER.net reached out to Trillanes to get more details about his post on X, specifically what the document he published means for the ICC drug war case.
“Being suspects, most likely they would be included in the warrants of arrest to be issued later on,” he replied in a text message.
READ: Trillanes: ICC has put over 50 PH cops on notice in drug war probe
“It’s a waiting game from hereon,” Trillanes added when pressed to further explain his remark on the anticipated arrest warrants.
Based on the document posted by Trillanes, the OTP, under Article 54 (1) of the Rome Statute, is obliged to conduct an investigation that “covers all facts and evidence.”
“This includes providing individuals under suspicion of crimes to provide their version of events. In this context, the OTP has reasonable grounds to believe that the following retired and serving members of the PNP have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the OTP,” the document states.
INQUIRER.net has sought dela Rosa’s comment on Trillanes’ exposé, but he has yet to respond as of writing.