ICC probe vs. personalities linked to drug war deaths underway – DOJ

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, Philippine News Agency

FILE: Families of victims of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs hold a press conference at Baclaran Church in Parañaque City on Wednesday (March 12, 2025). (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

MANILA – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation against other key personalities involved in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs is underway, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.

DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said the arrest warrant issued against Duterte also sends a message that other individuals are being investigated for their supposed role in the drug war launched under the Duterte administration.

Ty said police chief-turned-senator Ronald Dela Rosa and retired police chief Oscar Albayalde are among the key figures subject to the ICC’s ongoing probe.

“Kung titignan natin ‘yung warrant, may nakalagay doon, may language doon, nalimutan ko lang kung ano ang exact language, na may mga other individuals na iniimbestigahan (If we look at the warrant, it says something there, there’s a language there, I just forget what the exact language is, that there are other individuals being investigated),” he said in a panel discussion with Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.

“Hindi kami privy kung sino talaga ‘yung mga (iniimbestigahan), kung ano ‘yung status ng imbestigasyon sa ICC. But alam namin, kasama sila sa mga iniimbestigahan (We are not privy to those who are being investigated, what the status of the investigation is at the ICC. But we know that they are among those being investigated),” Ty added, referring to Dela Rosa and Albayalde.

He, however, clarified that there is no arrest warrant yet against Dela Rosa and Albayalde.

He, nevertheless, assured the public that the government already knows how to execute the arrest warrants that may be issued by the ICC against other individuals.

“Abangan lang natin kung magkakaroon man ng warrant of arrest laban sa kanila (Let’s just wait and see if there will be an arrest warrant against them),” Ty said.

The DOJ on Wednesday said the Philippine government adhered to domestic and international legal procedures when it implemented the arrest order against Duterte on Tuesday.