MAYNILA — Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa revealed on Thursday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may have contacted his office, but he instructed his staff to “ignore” the communication, insisting that the tribunal has no jurisdiction over him.
While filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) for reelection, Dela Rosa was asked whether the ICC, which is investigating former President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs, had tried to reach him.
“Merong nag-contact sa opisina pero in-ignore namin dahil alam naman naming wala silang jurisdiction sa atin. May nagko-contact sa opisina ko pero in-ignore namin, hindi namin kinausap, hindi namin pinatulan,” Dela Rosa told reporters.
(Somebody contacted our office, but we ignored it because we know they have no jurisdiction over us. We didn’t engage.)
In July, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) confirmed that the ICC had requested assistance in “interviewing” key individuals involved in the drug war. This information, leaked by former Senator Antonio Trillanes, reportedly included Dela Rosa and former police chief Oscar Albayalde.
Following Trillanes’ disclosure, Dela Rosa said there were multiple calls from individuals claiming to be ICC personnel.
“Baka mamaya mga ggo-ggo lang yan na mga tao don… naggawa ng pangalan na kunwari European daw sila na gustong mag-interview sa akin,” Dela Rosa said.
(Who knows, maybe these are just pranksters pretending to be Europeans wanting to interview me.)
“Sabay-sabay nung pagsabi ni Trillanes nung issue merong nagtawag-tawag sa amin, sabi ko wag nyong entertain yan baka mga siraulo yan,” he added.
(The calls came right after Trillanes publicized the issue, but I told my staff not to entertain them as they could just be crazy people.)
Dela Rosa recently proposed to fellow senators the idea of passing a law to ban the Philippines from cooperating with the ICC.
Official records show that 6,181 individuals were killed during Duterte’s war on drugs, although human rights groups claim that up to 30,000 may have died, including innocent victims, amid widespread allegations of corruption and impunity among security forces.