The Philippine National Police said those cops who communicated with the International Criminal Court (ICC) about former President Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing crime against humanity may face sanctions.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, in a press briefing on Thursday, said the police officers should first ask permission from the higher authorities and follow the command line.
“Obviously, if you are an active personnel and you are performing any activities that are contrary to what is being stated officially by the PNP, any police officer who does not follow the so-called chain of command may face sanctions,” she told reporters.
Fajardo stressed that this also follows the ordinary police officers who inform their immediate supervisors before conducting any operation.
The command line shouldn’t be violated, she added.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV earlier said the ICC has communicated with more than 50 active and former police officials to get “highly credible information” about their implication in the Duterte administration’s crime against humanity in implementing the war on drugs campaign.
“The ICC investigators have already directly communicated with more than 50 active and former PNP officials regarding their being implicated in the crimes against humanity case of Rodrigo Duterte at the ICC,” he said.
Trillanes said those concerned police officers who do not express intention to cooperate with the ICC will be tagged as “suspects” in the case, restricted from travel, and arrested by the INTERPOL.
However, Fajardo said the PNP has no information to confirm if the concerned police officers have really communicated with the ICC.
Fajardo said the PNP is already checking who could be the source of the former senator.
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the former PNP chief during the Duterte administration, denied that the ICC contacted him for the same reason.
“No ICC prosecutors ever contacted me,” Dela Rosa told reporters in a Viber message on Thursday.
