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Philippine National Police Chief General Oscar Albayalde gestures during Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation on "ninja cops" at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City on 09 October 2019. Mike Alquinto, ABS-CBN News/File

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Oscar

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172248188478820191009-albayalde-senate-ninja-cops-ma-01.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Philippine National Police Chief General Oscar Albayalde gestures during Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation on &quot;ninja cops&quot; at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City on 09 October 2019. Mike Alquinto, ABS-CBN News/File</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde on Thursday said he would only cooperate with the International Criminal Court&#x27;s (ICC) drug war probe upon the orders of the Department of Justice (DOJ).</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/29/albayalde-handang-humarap-sa-imbestigasyon-ng-icc-1817">• Albayalde handang humarap sa imbestigasyon ng ICC</a></div><p>&quot;I will allow myself [to cooperate] if, and only if, the Department of Justice will tell us and if there is an order directly from our Department of Justice,&quot; Albayalde told ANC.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XUvUh2etpMg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) earlier said it won&#x27;t help ICC in its investigation, but it also won&#x27;t prevent it from conducting its probe.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/30/ph-won-t-help-but-won-t-stop-icc-prosecutor-s-bid-to-interview-drug-war-personalities-1002" id="isPasted">• PH won&#x27;t help, but won&#x27;t stop ICC prosecutor&#x27;s bid to interview drug war personalities</a></div><p>Pressed for answer, Albayalde said it was his &quot;personal decision&quot; to refuse being interviewed by ICC investigators in case invited.</p><p>&quot;Depende na &#x27;yan sa amin if we will cooperate or not... No [I will not cooperate] without the sanction of DOJ,&quot; he said.</p><p>The former Police chief also criticized former Sen. Antonio Trillanes for sharing a confidential document from the ICC that supposedly tagged him as a &quot;suspect,&quot; along with Sen. Bato dela Rosa and other former and current PNP officials.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/25/doj-officials-who-will-cooperate-with-icc-probe-may-be-held-accountable-1509">• DOJ: Officials who will cooperate with ICC probe may be held accountable</a></div><p>&quot;What authority does former Sen. Trillanes have from ICC to publicly post a highly-classified document?&quot;</p><p>The OSG has confirmed the existence of the ICC document.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/26/bato-on-reported-suspect-tag-by-icc-what-s-new-1034">• Bato on reported &#x27;suspect&#x27; tag by ICC: &#x27;What&#x27;s new?&#x27;</a></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)" id="isPasted"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>‘VERY TRICKY’ SITUATION  </strong></span></div><div><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Philippine government would be in a “very tricky” situation if the ICC asked the International Police to enforce a warrant of arrest against Filipinos tagged in its investigation of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Remulla noted that while the Philippine government is no longer a member of the ICC, the country respects the Interpol “99.99% of the time.”</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Kapag hinarang mo yan, magkakaroon tayo ng repercussions as a country, pag-aaralan pa rin namin kung anong pwedeng gawin,” Remulla said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Sanay mag-cooperate ang Interpol saka ICC… We are members of the Interpol and we are not in the business of blocking any movement of the Interpol unless a policy is laid out, which of course, will go against our international commitments,” he added. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But Remulla said  the supposed request of the ICC for cooperation of the Philippines with its prosecutor to interview Filipino suspects was “noted”.</span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>PNP IS &#x27;PRO-LIFE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Albayalde believes &quot;there is nothing more to say to the ICC&quot; since alleged drug war abuses are now being investigated by the Congress while some are already pending in local courts.</p><p>He also claimed that the PNP has always been &quot;pro-life&quot; and has never tried to justify the killings under the bloody drug war.</p><p>&quot;We are not trying to justify the killings, never, the PNP is pro-life,&quot; he said.</p><p>Asked if there were police abuses or impunity during the height of the controversial anti-drug campaign, Albayalde said, &quot;not really.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Since the start of the drug war we&#x27;ve been telling our cops to follow the law,&quot; he said.</p><p>Officially, 6,181 people were killed in former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s &quot;war on drugs&quot; but rights group say that up to 30,000 may have been killed, some innocent victims, and that corruption was rife among security forces that acted with impunity.<br/><br/></p><div><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">— With a report from Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News </span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u_4UpxucLo8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Ex-PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said it was his personal decision to refuse being interviewed by ICC investigators in case invited.</p>

Ex-PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said it was his personal decision to refuse being interviewed by ICC investigators in case invited.

Albayalde won't cooperate with ICC probe unless 'ordered' by DOJ

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Albayalde won't cooperate with ICC probe unless 'ordered' by DOJ

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 01, 2024 11:21 AM PHT

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Updated Aug 01, 2024 02:21 PM PHT

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PNP

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Oscar Albayalde

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war on drugs

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Trillanes

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