The mastermind of the Philippines' war on drugs, Ronald dela Rosa, wants state protection to avoid possible arrest on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
I am sad on behalf of the entire Filipino people because we have a president who does not keep his word," Dela Rosa - senator and former police chief during the term of former Philippine head of state Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) - said today in an interview with Philippine radio station DZBB, accusing Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of treason for allowing Duterte's arrest.
Dela Rosa said he hopes that Philippine authorities will protect him from a possible arrest ordered by the ICC, due to his position as senator.
"As long as the President of the Senate can, he should protect me first and not hand me over, even if an arrest warrant is issued. I also hope that the executive branch will respect that because there are protocols for that,” Dela Rosa told Philippine media on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, when Rodrigo Duterte was unexpectedly detained upon arrival in the Philippines from Hong Kong, lawyer Israelito Torreon tried to force the Supreme Court to order authorities to release Duterte and protect the former police chief.
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the petition did not justify the urgency of the matter, but did not dismiss it outright.
“They gave us 10 days to submit our arguments” on the case, Dela Rosa said.
The ICC has not publicly commented on whether it will order the former police chief’s detention, while Dela Rosa is campaigning for the May 12 midterm elections in which the senator is seeking reelection.
However, while Dela Rosa is trying to block a still-hypothetical arrest warrant, he also said on Wednesday he was ready to join Duterte as a detainee in The Hague, Netherlands, "in the hope of being able to take care of" the former Philippine president.
Duterte, 79, was handed over to the ICC on Wednesday following a warrant issued against the former head of state, which led to his arrest on Tuesday upon his arrival in Manila.
The ICC judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that members of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) and Philippine law enforcement officers “targeted a large number of individuals allegedly involved in criminal activities” between at least November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.
Dela Rosa, considered the mastermind behind Duterte’s war on drugs, was also under investigation by the ICC and alleged last October that he had ignored requests to be interviewed by the ICC.
About 6,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations and extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s violent campaign, according to police figures, although local nongovernmental organizations put the toll at more than 30,000.
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