MANILA, Nov 8 : The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Philippine Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who oversaw then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, the nation’s ombudsman said on Saturday, although the ICC denied the assertion.
Duterte, in office from 2016 to 2022, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on a warrant linking him to murders committed during his war on drugs, in which thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla told Reuters in a text message that the information about Dela Rosa’s warrant had been relayed to him by the officer-in-charge of the Department of Justice.
Asked for comment, DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said the ministry was still verifying the information.
“We have not yet received a copy of said arrest warrant. We shall provide further details as soon as it becomes available,” Martinez said in a text message.
ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah, when asked whether there was an arrest warrant, said: “No. ICC news can only be found on ICC official communications channels and press releases.”
The office of Dela Rosa, a police chief under Duterte, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He and Duterte, who is in detention at The Hague, have petitioned the Philippine Supreme Court to compel the government to stop cooperating with the ICC.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s office has yet to independently verify the information about Dela Rosa’s warrant, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told reporters.
A document containing the charges prosecutors want to bring against Duterte mentioned Dela Rosa, including statements he made as police chief.
Dela Rosa was quoted in a Senate photo release in April as saying he received a communication from the ICC “regarding the extra-judicial killings of suspected drug dependents and other personalities, which constitute crimes against humanity.”
Duterte and his lawyers maintain his arrest was unlawful. Last month, Duterte appealed the ICC’s decision to continue its case against him and sought his release.
Ombudsman Remulla said the extradition rules approved by the Supreme Court will be applied in the case of Dela Rosa.
ICC issues arrest warrant for ally of Philippine ex-President Duterte over drug war, ombudsman says
https://arab.news/9h5xf
ICC issues arrest warrant for ally of Philippine ex-President Duterte over drug war, ombudsman says
- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s office has yet to independently verify the information about Dela Rosa’s warrant
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
