Various personnel from the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrived in the Philippines in October 2024 and were "assisted" by the current administration.
This was disclosed by Senator Imee Marcos during the continuation of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte by the ICC.
Marcos pushed through with the second hearing despite the absence of certain cabinet members invited by the Senate panel.
According to her, since May last year, there was a "briefer" being prepared regarding Duterte's arrest, contrary to claims being made that the Philippines has nothing to do with it. This new "briefer" prepared by the Department of Justice (DOJ) during this time, Marcos said includes the Duterte's potential arrest and the country's return to the ICC's fold.
“Maliwanag na last year pa May of 2024 nag-umpisa na ito. At sabi rito, aware naman tayo na yung policy ay hindi papasukin ang ICC pero posible naman mag-iba (It's clear that this started back in May 2024. And as mentioned, we are aware that the policy does not allow for ICC involvement, but it could change),” she said.
She said that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) was able to identify the ICC personnel who arrived in the country in October of the previous year. They are:
- Maya Destura Brackeen, ICC Interpreter who arrived on Oct. 4, 2024
- William Rosato, ICC protection expert who arrived on Oct. 15, 2024
- Amir John Kassa, ICC protection expert who arrived on Oct. 20, 2024
- Glenn Roderick Thomas Kala, ICC investigator who arrived on Oct. 24, 2024
Marcos also mentioned an ICC lawyer who also arrived and a "new" team at that time composed of three people that arrived around October 19, 2024.
“Maliwanag na merong mga dumating na ICC at nagpakilala bilang tauhan talaga ng ICC na may kanya kanyang espesiyalidad. May protection expert, may imbestgador, may interpreter, may abogado,” she said.
“Humingi din sila ng protection detail and trasport sa Pilipinas. So maliwanag na ang Pilipinas ay tumulong at talagang nagpakita ng partisipasyon. Matagal na ito, Mayo pa tapos October pa kaya nagtataka po tayo bakit tinatanggi ng ating mga opisyal na may ganito,” she added.
Aside from this, Marcos also stated that she received information that the ICC personnel had an agenda and were requesting information from the administration. Among the items on their agenda are the bank account records from June 2016 to 2019 of a certain Peter Parungo.
They are also requesting blotter entries, seized evidence, and radio transmissions from Police Station 6 in Batasan Hills, Quezon City.
Keeping in mind the country's bank privacy laws, Marcos said that it’s puzzling why these bank account records, which the Senate has been unable to obtain, have been provided to the ICC. Also asked were tactical operations data from the police, as well as hospital records from East Avenue Medical Center for all dead-on-arrival cases between July 2016 and 2017.
“Itong agenda na sinasabing hiningi, siya rin ang lumitaw sa application for warrant ng ICC prosecutor. Sa madaling sabi, ang kaso sa ICC ay base sa ebidensyang binigay ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas (The agenda that was said to have been requested is the same one that appeared in the ICC prosecutor's application for a warrant. In short, the case at the ICC is based on the evidence provided by the Philippine government)," she explained.
The presidential sister said that she can't help but wonder that while the administration has been claiming it did not help the ICC, the prosecutor in his application for the warrant of arrest of Duterte cited the following documents as part of the evidence:
- Documents from the Philippine National Police and other departments
- Drug watch list maintained by the law enforcement
- Financial and bank records
- Forensic evidence from the PNP
“Mahirap kunin itong mga katibayan na ito kahit na mataas na opisyal katulad ng senador maghahagilap kami ng ganito wala kaming makuha. Pano nakuha ng ICC prosecutor kung sa mga salita at deklarasyon ng administrasyon ang sinabi it will not lift a finger to help the ICC (It’s difficult to obtain this kind of evidence, even for high-ranking officials like senators. We have tried to gather such information, but we haven't been successful. How did the ICC prosecutor manage to get it when, according to the statements and declarations from the administration, they said they would not lift a finger to assist the ICC?)" Marcos said.
"Eh bakit verbatim lahat ng hiningi nila nakarecord sa agenda, yan din ang lumitaw na katibayan para sa warrant of arrest (Why is everything they requested recorded verbatim in the agenda, also the evidence that came up for the arrest warrant?)” she added.
Marcos added that even if they were to assume that there were members of the PNP who helped the ICC prosecutor in an unofficial capacity, she questioned why these were not detected by intelligence officers, which according to her is "very hard to believe" given their huge budget.
"Totoo ba na right in front of their faces, hindi naman nila nakita na lahat ito? Mahirap talaga paniwalaan (Is it true that right in front of their faces, they didn't see any of this? It's really hard to believe)," she added.