By Erika Mae P. Sinaking, A reporter
THE Philippine government’s DECISION to enforce an International Court of Justice (ICC) arrest warrant for Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa may indicate how the authorities will handle future cases related to former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s drug war, analysts say, as law enforcement agencies prepare for other possible warrants.
“This situation removes any doubt that the subjects of these mandates could be used to question their enforcement before the courts,” said Frank Lloyd B. Tiongson, a human rights lawyer and part-time adviser to the United Nations. BusinessWorld.
Mr. Tiongson said the Philippines maintains “residual obligations” under the Rome Statute despite withdrawing from the treaty in 2019.
He mentioned that under the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, obligations related to actions taken while a country was a member can continue even after withdrawal.
Mr. dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, has been identified by ICC prosecutors as one of the perpetrators of Mr. Duterte in a case involving his anti-illegal drug campaign spanning 2016 to 2019. The former president has been under ICC custody since his arrest last year and is awaiting trial for crimes against humanity.
The ICC mentioned the involvement of Mr. dela Rosa in the killings involving at least 32 people from July 2016 to April 2018, based on records cited in the arrest warrant.
“Republic Act (RA) No. 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity and the Rome Statute are similar and reinforcing in many ways,” said Mr. Tiongson answering questions via email. “The provisions of RA 9851 are almost identical to many of the provisions of the Rome Statute.”
He said RA 9851 is intended to provide a domestic mechanism for accountability for crimes against humanity while allowing cooperation with international courts “in the interest of justice.”
Malacañang on Sunday said that future arrest warrants issued by the ICC for people linked to the drug war will be effective as soon as they are completed by the International Criminal Police Organization.
“There is a legal basis for the ICC to enforce the arrest,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told DZMM radio in Filipino. “These ICC warrants do not need to go through local courts.”
Ma. Kristina C. Conti, who represents the victims before the ICC in The Hague, said that the government’s position is consistent with the country’s previous accession to the Rome Convention.
“When a country signs the Rome Statute, it accepts the ICC as a law in its country,” he said BusinessWorld via Viber. “Obviously, the ICC warrant is valid and enforceable among states that have signed the Rome Statute.”
He added that the government’s recognition of Mr. dela Rosa set a precedent for future ICC warrants.
This development follows the refusal of the Supreme Court of the Philippines to issue a temporary injunction preventing the execution of the ICC warrant.
The Department of Justice and Malacañang said the decision paved the way for law enforcement, although constitutional questions are still pending before the court.
THERE ARE MANY ARRESTS
Justice Secretary Frederick A. Vida said the denial removed any legal obstacles to the implementation, while the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has begun preparations to find and arrest the senator.
NBI Director Melvin A. Matibag said the authorities are ready if more warrants are issued.
“It doesn’t matter who or what crime was involved,” he said at a news conference broadcast live on Saturday. “As long as there is a warrant, we have a protocol.”
Mr. Matibag added that the bureau has received information suggesting that more people may face ICC warrants.
Former Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV earlier said intelligence reports indicated that Senator Christopher T. Go may be among those who may face future sanctions, although he said any development “may take months.”
Mr Go, a former special assistant to Mr Duterte, dismissed the allegations linking him to the ICC investigation and described them as politically motivated.
Many former officials and Philippine National Police remain exposed in ICC documents related to the anti-drug campaign.
The lawyer of Mr. dela Rosa, Israelto P. Torreon, disputed the NBI’s description of the senator as “armed and dangerous.”
He said that the defendant’s lawyer has filed papers in the high court that has the right to be reconsidered after the temporary decision was rejected.
He maintains that the ICC warrant is not automatic in the Philippine territory because no domestic court has issued a warrant against the senator.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday, the wife of Mr. dela Rosa Grace Nancy pleaded with the law enforcement not to hand over her husband to The Hague.
He said that Filipinos should be tried in Philippine courts and that transferring another Filipino to an international court would mean that local institutions cannot do justice.
“If we have to learn from Duterte’s case, it is to not leave another Filipino,” said Mrs. dela Rosa.
