PDEA will help ICC in probe – but only with President’s approval

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the government’s lead agency in the drug war, is willing to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) but only with the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte.

On the part of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, PNP spokesperson, said the ICC should follow the “process” before it could gather data related to the administration’s war on drugs.

“On the part of the PNP, we will [cooperate] – provided there will be an approval from the higher office, in this case, the DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] or Malacañang. But just the same,  a process should also be observed,” Bulalacao said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

“Same answer,” PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said, meaning that PDEA would only release data “upon Duterte’s approval.”

Earlier in the month, the President ordered law enforcement agencies to ignore any probe or questioning by the ICC.

“When it comes to human rights, or whoever rapporteur it is, my order to you: Do not answer. Do not bother,” he said.

He has also announced the Philippines’ withdrawal from from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

He said there appeared to be a “concerted effort” between the United Nations special rapporteurs and the ICC special prosecutor to paint him as a “ruthless and heartless violator of human rights. /atm