Truth Commission to Marcos: Continue serving ICC arrest orders
The Philippine Truth Commission on Wednesday called on President Marcos to enforce current or forthcoming arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC), following US President Donald Trump’s call on member-countries to quit what he called a “rogue institution.”
“We urge again the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cooperate with the ICC and carry out its arrest warrants, and demonstrate to the world the nation’s commitment to a rights- based international order,’’ Truth Commission chair Raul Pangalangan said in a statement.
The ICC has a standing arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is tagged as a co-perpetrator in the crimes against humanity charges filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte and who has gone into hiding after briefly surfacing in the Senate in May.
Self-serving, irresponsible
The other co-perpetrators named by the Office of the Prosecutor were Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, the late Philippine National Police chief Camilo Cascolan, former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, former Davao City police chief Vicente Danao, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, former National Bureau of Investigation chief Dante Gierran and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Isidro Lapeña.
On Trump’s call for the withdrawal of ICC member-states, Pangalangan said: “The call is self-serving, irresponsible, and leaves many of those who suffered injustice around the world more vulnerable to abuses.”
“[Duterte] needs to undergo this process for justice. An ICC under siege prolongs the search for accountability and the suffering of thousands,” added the former ICC trial judge.
A trial chamber of the ICC is set to try the former president on Nov. 30 for his alleged individual criminal responsibility in the war on drugs he waged that led to killings of alleged drug traders and users that watchdogs estimated at nearly 30,000.
The Truth Commission, which is also composed of civil society members and a Catholic bishop, said the continuing attacks by the US government on the international tribunal “jeopardizes the hope of victims and survivors that justice is within reach.”
The ICC has yet to respond to Trump’s latest remarks. Last month, it said that it remains “undeterred” by the attacks after the United States imposed a new round of sanctions against its president, Judge Tomoko Akane, and one of its senior trial lawyers in the Office of the Prosecutor, Abdoulaye Seye.
