Palace to Bato: ICC case not a diversion, don’t ride on ‘fake news’

Metro Manila, Philippines - Malacañang pushed back against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s claim that the Palace was reviving the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue to divert attention from controversies involving First Lady Liza Marcos, saying the court case remains active and relevant.

In a press briefing on Friday, July 18, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Palace had no hand in raising the ICC issue as a distraction and emphasized that the threat of a possible arrest warrant is real - not recycled.

“Unang-una po, iyong possible ICC arrest, hindi po ito old issue,” Castro said.

[Translation: First of all, the possible ICC arrest is not an old issue.]

“Every now and then may nadidinig po tayo na maaaring mailabas ang warrant of arrest,” she added.

[Translation: We continue to hear that a warrant may be released any time.]

Dela Rosa, who is among those under preliminary ICC scrutiny as chief implementer of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, said Thursday the issue was revived to shift public attention away from questions about the authenticity of a now-debunked police report allegedly involving the first lady.

“Mahilig ang mga tao diyan sa Malacañang gumawa ng panibagong issue kahit old issue para i-divert ang atensyon ng tao,” Dela Rosa said.

[Translation: People in Malacañang like reviving old issues to divert public attention.]

But Castro rejected that assertion and pointed out that the Palace has only responded when asked about such matters.

“Wala naman po tayong nairi-raise na old issues, maliban kung ito ay related sa itinatanong sa atin,” she said.

[Translation: We don’t raise old issues unless we’re asked about them.]

Castro then shifted focus back to the circulating police report, which she said had already been confirmed as altered by the Beverly Hills Police Department. She called out critics - including Dela Rosa - for picking up narratives based on fake documents.

“Kung ito po ay sinabi na po ng Beverly Hills Police Department na altered iyong ipinost na police report, siya po ba ay sumasakay din sa issue ng fake police report?”

[Translation: If the Beverly Hills Police already confirmed that the posted report is altered, is he now also riding on a fake issue?]