00:00The Philippines will not stop the prosecutors of the ICC from talking to some people related to the Duterte drug war, according to the Solicitor General.
00:09But the government will not help in the process.
00:12Sandra Aguinaldo is on the scene.
00:14In the preparation of the International Criminal Court of ICC against the former President Rodrigo Duterte and other officials behind the bloody drug war of his administration,
00:30the ICC Office of the Prosecutor gave assistance to the government of the Philippines to interview the five people mentioned in a communication.
00:40According to Solicitor General Menardo Guevara, the government of the Philippines will not stop this because this is part of the process of applying for a warrant of arrest.
00:50The prosecutor needs to do this because before he applies for a warrant of arrest in the pre-trial chamber of the ICC,
01:01he needs to show that he investigated all the facts.
01:06Whether incriminating or exonerating, he needs to show that he did everything to give all persons concerned a chance to explain their position.
01:20But Guevara added that even if the government will not stop the prosecution of the ICC, it will not help in the process.
01:28The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 that violates the ICC.
01:34We have no relationship with the ICC. If they ask for cooperation from us, we have no legal duty to cooperate with them.
01:45Even if they want to continue their investigation, we cannot stop it.
01:52Guevara did not say who are the five people that the ICC prosecutor wants to talk to.
01:58But former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said in his social media post that he is the former PNP chief and now Senator Bato de la Rosa,
02:07former PNP chief Oscar Albayarde, former PNP generals Romeo Karamat Jr., Edelberto Leonardo, and Eleazar Mata.
02:17In the document released by Trillanes, he said that these people are suspects in the case related to the war against drugs.
02:24Albayarde said that he is ready to face the investigation.
02:27It is a big example for our sovereignty and it is also an example for our justices because we have a law here and justice, perfectly functioning judiciary, justice system here in our country.
02:43While Karamat was defended by Oplan Tukhang, the anti-drug campaign of the Duterte administration.
02:49In the province of Bulacan where I was the provincial director then, I could say that the Oplan Tukhang was very successful because there were so many surrenders during that time.
03:02Senator de la Rosa said that the allegations against him are like replicas.
03:09We would like to invite Mata and Leonardo.
03:12For GMA Integrated News, Sandra Aguinaldo, Nakatutok 24 Horas.
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