MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Salvador Paolo Panelo on Tuesday accused the government of allowing foreign interference and violating due process following the enforcement of an "invalid" arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Panelo issued the statement after the ICC on Monday confirmed the authenticity of the warrant of arrest against in connection with his role in the Duterte administration's war on drugs.
"The confirmation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that it has issued an arrest warrant on Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa as a co-conspirator in the pending crime against humanity case filed against former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte is an affirmation of the ICC’s continuing assault on the sovereignty of the country," Panelo said in a statement.
"It also validates the suspicion that the present administration has engineered the enforcement of the invalid warrant of arrest issued by the foreign tribunal against the former president, and therefore in conspiracy with the ICC in committing such constitutional transgression," he added.
Panelo, Duterte's former spokesman, also criticized the assault and the attempt to arrest Dela Rosa as he entered the Senate building to attend an ongoing Senate session on Monday.
He said such acts by the agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to enforce another ICC issued warrant of arrest "reinforces the accusation that the government is indeed behind the blatant violation of the constitutional rights of the senator, as the NBI would have not committed its brazen disrespect to a third branch of government without the go-signal from the chief executive."
"Both the Constitution and the Rome Statute are explicit on the issuance and enforcement of a warrant of arrest," Panelo said.
Panelo said that the Constitution "requires a court of competent jurisdiction for the issuance of an arrest after finding of a probable cause."
He also said the Rome Stature "requires that before an ICC warrant of arrest is enforced, it has to pass before a local judicial authority."
"Due process must be observed. In both instances. the enforcement of the ICC warrant of arrest was done in the case of Duterte, while it is being implemented in the of de la Rosa, in gross violation the Constitution and the Rome Statute," Panelo said.
"Such unlawful acts are deemed to be betrayal of the public trust and an impeachable ground," he added.
