Palace shrugs off Dela Rosa’s betrayal remark after Duterte’s arrest
Former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace has shrugged off the allegation of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. broke his promise that his administration would not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying there is no special treatment when it comes to law.
At a briefing on Friday, Palace Press Office Claire Castro also said dela Rosa could easily defend himself before the ICC if he is indeed innocent.
This issue arose after dela Rosa said he felt “betrayed” when Marcos did not allegedly keep his word.
The senator said Marcos himself promised him that “not even a hair of yours would be touched by the ICC.”
In Friday’s briefing, Castro said, “Hindi po tayo pwedeng magkaroon ng special treatment. Ang betrayal po sa isang tao, kung siya naman po ay naaakusahan, hindi po ito masasabing isang issue.”
(We cannot have special treatment. Betrayal against a person, if they are being accused, cannot be considered an issue.)
“Mas dapat po na ang pangulo, ang gobyerno, ay hindi nagbe-betray sa batas. Hindi siya nagbe-betray kung anong interes ng bansa. Hindi siya nagbe-betray sa mga tanong di umanong naging biktima ng EJK [extrajudicial killing],” she added.
(The president and the government should not betray the law. They should not betray the interests of the country. They should not betray alleged victims of extrajudicial killings.)
Castro noted that if dela Rosa is truly not guilty, then he could easily defend himself before the court.
“Sabi naman po nila, sila naman po ay walang kasalanan, hindi po ba’t napakabilis naman nilang madedepensahan ang kanilang sarili at mapapabilis siguro ang pagtapos ng proceedings sa ICC kung sila mismo ang magdedepensa sa kanilang sarili dahil wala silang kasalanan ayon sa kanila,” she said.
(They themselves claim that they are innocent, so wouldn’t it be easy for them to defend themselves? The ICC proceedings could likely be concluded more quickly if they personally present their defense, given that they insist they have done nothing wrong.)
Former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested under an ICC warrant for alleged crimes against humanity during his administration’s war on drugs.
He is scheduled to make his first appearance before the ICC in the Hague on Friday before Pre-Trial Chamber I.
Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s first national police chief, was named co-accused in the complaint at the ICC.
Castro said they have not yet received official communication regarding any International Criminal Police Organization red notice alert for the senator.
