Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla | Photo from Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is no longer a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) but has a separate commitment to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), which helps the country protect millions of Filipinos worldwide, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Wednesday.
Remulla made the statement in reaction to the recent remarks of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa asking him and Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra if they are “challenging the policy set by the President” concerning the ICC.
“Again, we are not members of ICC but iba kasing commitment ng Interpol. Wala na tayo commitment sa ICC, pero ang Interpol may commitment tayo tsaka far-reaching yan kailangan natin tandaan na there are more than 10 million Filipinos going around the world right now na baka kailangan ng tulong ng Interpol,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) chief said in a briefing.
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(Again, we are not members of ICC but our commitment to Interpol is different. We no longer have commitment with the ICC, but we have with the Interpol, which is far-reaching and may aid more than 10 million Filipinos worldwide.)
“Kaya we value Interpol over a lot of other fields because we have to protect our people throughout the world. The Interpol is very important to us in that regard,” he added.
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On Monday, Dela Rosa expressed alarm on Remulla’s August 1 statement, saying that the country would not block any arrest warrants that the Interpol may issue concerning the ICC’s “drug war” case.
Although the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, Remulla explained that the country remains a part of Interpol, which facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.
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“We are not in the business of blocking any movement at Interpol,” the DOJ chief earlier said when asked what will the government do if Interpol issues arrest warrants on suspects in the ICC drug war case.
Last July 30, Guevarra said they cannot stop the ICC from investigating people it considers suspects in its drug war case. He added that the ICC prosecutor can come to the Philippines and interview suspects if required.
But he clarified that the ICC prosecutor “cannot expect that the Philippine government will facilitate it for him.”
Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), along with former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Romeo Caramat Jr., former National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, and former PNP Intelligence Officer Eleazar Mata, have been tagged as suspects by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, which investigates the Duterte administration’s brutal anti-drug campaign.