Metro Manila, Philippines – The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has asked the Supreme Court to deny the petition filed by Senator Ronald dela Rosa in connection with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
In a comment submitted to the high court, the OSG said in its filing that Dela Rosa’s motions should be dismissed “for utter lack of merit.”
“This is a case study in how the powerful corrodes the rule of law,” the OSG said in its filing, referring to Dela Rosa’s alleged refusal to recognize the enforcement of an ICC warrant against him.
The OSG said Dela Rosa went into hiding after reports surfaced about a possible ICC warrant, resurfacing only to vote for Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President before allegedly leaving the Senate premises again on May 14.
The filing also revisited Dela Rosa’s role as former Philippine National Police chief under then-President Rodrigo Duterte and his implementation of “Project Double Barrel,” the anti-drug campaign linked to thousands of deaths.
Citing ICC findings, the OSG noted that prosecutors identified Dela Rosa as a “co-perpetrator” in an alleged plan to “neutralize alleged criminals in the Philippines.”
The filing added that victims of the anti-drug campaign were often denied the due process protections that Dela Rosa is now invoking before the courts.
“No amount of technical reasoning can disguise the absence of justice. Our conscience will know. The nation will know. History will know,” it added.
