Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla admitted that the government has not prepared any contingency measures should the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue arrest warrants against allies of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“We have yet to talk about it. I do not think they want to leave the country. We will cross the bridge when we get there,” Remulla told reporters, as quoted by Inquirer.net.
His remarks came after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV disclosed that ICC warrants of arrest against Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go could be handed down early next year. Trillanes had just returned from The Hague where he attended the ICC’s 10th Seminar on Cooperation last September.
Trillanes was among the first to pursue a case for crimes against humanity against Duterte. The former president, now 80 years old, was arrested in Manila last March and is currently in ICC custody over charges related to the bloody war on drugs.
Government figures place the death toll from the anti-drug campaign at more than 6,000, though human rights groups in the Philippines and abroad report much higher numbers.
