Newly-installed Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Nicolas Torre III categorically said that the police force would enforce warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against drug war suspects for as long as it "goes through the proper channels".
Torre had this to say to reporters on the sidelines of the House quad-committee (quad-comm) hearing on Monday, June 9.
Specifically, the top cop was asked if he would implement an ICC arrest warrant against suspects in the war on drugs, one of them being the recently reelected Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa.
"It is imperative upon us to implement if it goes through the proper channels," Torre said.
"Kasi sa ngayon pareho pa rin ang stance ng ating gobyerno na wala tayong cooperation sa ICC (Because as of now, the government's stance of no cooperation with the ICC hasn't changed)," he noted.
"Pero sila ay mayroon mga platforms na pwedeng magamit, may mga linya sila na pwedeng magamit gaya ng Interpol para ito ay maimplement (But they have platforms that can be utilized, and they have channels that can be used, such as Interpol, to facilitate implementation)," Torre said.
Torre was referring to the International Criminal Police Organization based in France.
"So if a request will be received by an organization like the Interpol to carry mandatory compliances na kailangan nating i-fulfill (that we need to fulfill), then we will...para ma-fulfill itong mga...mandates or yung ating mga commitment sa mga organizations na ito (in order to fulfill these mandates or our commitments to these organizations)," Torre said.
Last March, Torre--as the chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) assisted Interpol in its arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte in Manila.
The Interpol carried a warrant of arrest for crimes against humanity against Duterte. This was in relation to his bloody war on drugs wherein a reported 30,000 Filipinos were killed.
Dela Rosa was the PNP chief when Duterte launched his anti-narcotics campaign in 2016.